Future Perfect

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nvironment

air

water

oceans

climate

change

to collect sewage and IWW into two separate pits, and to install onsite

IWW treatment plants.

During 2009-2010, KEPA inspected 125 factories in the W. Shuaiba

industrial area, a suspected source of pollution to the nearby Umm

Al-Hayman residential area. It imposed heavy penalties on 80 facto-

ries violating KEPA environmental laws, regulations and standards.

In order to reach settlement with KEPA, these factories must ban the

discharge of IWW in the national sewage network and rain outfalls,

install onsite IWW treatment units or closed loop systems, and reuse

treated IWW to irrigate aesthetic plants within the factory premises.

KEPA also set a detailed three-phase plan to improve environmen-

tal conditions in the southern region of Kuwait, including:

• Relocating factories with heavy and medium impacts on

pollution to new remote industrial areas

• Installing central IWW treatment plants in these new areas

• Establishing a National Fund for Environmental Compliance

• Evaluating existing environmental conditions and preparing

online monitoring programmes for all factories.

In 2009-2010 the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) upgraded the

Umm Al-Hayman wastewater tertiary treatment plant to treat the

IWW generated from factories.

Remediation of areas damaged by oil burning

Over 600 oil wells in Kuwait’s northern and southern oil fields were

set on fire by retreating Iraqi troops in 1991, and wells that were

not set alight gushed oil over a seven-month period. Around 60

million barrels (mmbbls)

of oil were spilled over topsoils in the oil

fields, forming 200-300 oil lakes.

Severe weathering and evapora-

tion caused an increase in the viscosity and density of the crude

oil in these lakes, which led to compositional stratification

and an

increase in persistent carcinogenic high-ring polyaromatic hydro-

carbon (PAH) content.

The latest estimates by the Public Authority for

Assessment of Compensation for Damages (PAAC) show

that the oil lakes cover about 114 square kilometres, and

a total 100 million cubic metres of soils are contaminated

by a heavy oil sludge layer known as tarcrete, under which

a thick layer of crude oil exists.

The soils also became

saline due to their flooding with around 1.5 billion gallons

of seawater used in extinguishing oil fires, and suffered

from severe compaction by military machinery.

Oil lakes had lethal toxic effects on many species of flora

and fauna. The vegetation cover was completely destroyed

in areas inundated by the lakes, while 25-100 per cent of

plants and animals were killed in areas covered by oil mist.

In addition to the oil lakes, over 4 million tons (about

25 mmbbls) of oil fallout from the smoke plumes of

oil-well blowouts and fires were deposited over approxi-

mately 1,000 square kilometres of soil, mainly along

the coastline between Kuwait and Bahrain. The smoke

plumes and soot fallout coated vegetation, reduced the

yield of Kuwait’s main crops, increased acid deposition

and contamination with chemical pollutants such as

PAHs and trace metals, and reduced solar radiation.

Groundwater pollution was recorded recently in the

northern deeper water level aquifer (20-30 metres) in

areas contaminated with oil lakes.

Cost-effective technologies for treating oil-contaminated soil

In July 1994 and November 2004 the Kuwait Institute

for Scientific Research (KISR), Japan Petroleum Energy

Center and Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) carried out pilot

studies on two sites of oil-contaminated soils and wet

tarcrete sludge contamination in the Burgan oil field. The

sites were successfully treated with four different biore-

Dead vegetation floating on the surface of oil lakes

Image: Al-Yousifi, A.G. (1998)

Dead palm trees and black soils heavily impacted by oil puddles in a

desert oasis

Image: Al-Yousifi, A.G. (1998)