Oil spill in the Persian Gulf in 1991

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Burning oil well and oil spill in the Burgan oil field , Kuwait (January 1991)

The oil spill in the Persian Gulf in 1991 as a result of the Second Gulf War is considered to be one of the largest maritime oil disasters . South Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were particularly affected . Almost a billion liters of crude oil (around 860,000 tons) were released, including from several tankers and oil terminals, and ended up in the Gulf off the coast of Kuwait. In particular, the salt marshes on the Arabian coast are still badly damaged.

Regeneration is estimated to be a process lasting several decades.

causes

On January 21, 1991, Iraqi soldiers opened the valves at the Sea Island Oil Terminal, releasing the oil from several tankers into the Persian Gulf . The obvious strategic goal was to prevent the potential landing of the United States Marine Corps . Immediately following reports from Baghdad reported that US air strikes were the cause of oil leaks from two tankers. Coalition troops determined that the main source of oil was the Sea Island Terminal in Kuwait. United States Air Force air strikes destroyed pipelines on January 26, 1991 to prevent further oil leaks into the Persian Gulf .

The oil migrated south and landed on the north coast of Saudi Arabia , where it damaged the fragile intertidal zones and mangrove forests, as well as destroyed wildlife habitats.

There were other active sources of the oil: a damaged Kuwaiti oil refinery and several tankers near Mina Al Ahmadi , tankers near Bubiyan Island, and the Iraqi Mina Al Bakr oil terminal .

Furthermore, the Iraqi military blew up 700 oil wells in Kuwait when they withdrew .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Environmental disaster Gulf War". Telepolis , September 16, 2002, accessed April 30, 2010 .
  2. ↑ http://www.presse.uni-oldenburg.de/uni-info/2002/1/thema.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendung/wib/1175204/
  4. ^ A b Paul R. Bultmann: Environmental Warfare: 1991 Persian Gulf War . State University of New York College at Oneonta. 2001. Retrieved May 16, 2010.
  5. ↑ Spiegel article from February 16, 2001
  6. ^ Article of the DLF on the second Gulf War from August 2, 2015