Assessing Long-term Impact of Oil Burning on the Terrestrial Environment of Kuwait

Abstract

During the Gulf War in 1990/91, the Kuwait desert environment was polluted by the formation of oil lakes and oil-contaminated surfaces resulting from the sabotage of the oil infrastructure by the retreating Iraqi troops. The purpose of this study was to determine the magnitude of oil damage still present almost ten years after extinguishing the oil fires, in two of the largest oil-fields in Kuwait called: the Greater Al-Burqan and AsSabriyah/Ar-Rawdatayn oil fields. The objectives of the survey were to: 1) categorize the types of damage; 2) seize the extent of damage; and 3) estimate the volume of contaminated soil. The field survey identified four types of oil-contaminated soil layers (liquid oil, oily soil, tar mat and soot) and a ‘clean’ soil type, where no oil contamination was observed. Field observation, and laboratory data (TPH, Heavy metals, EC and PH) were conducted. Mapping of each group was conducted by using GIS. A map with a scale of 1:50,000 was generated from the data, which showed the distribution of contamination. The estimated total amount of contaminated soil volume was of about 31.3 million m3. The bulk of the contaminated soil occurs in the dry oil lake map unit areas and the oil lake areas. Further work is now required to determine the risk posed by each contamination category, which is a function of the hazard and exposure to the hazard.