US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT920

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 000920 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP AND OES 
STATE PASS EPA 
AMMAN FOR ENVIRONMENT HUB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV, EPET, KU 
SUBJECT: KUWAIT PREPARES ENVIRONMENT FOR WAR 
 
1. SUMMARY: As part of Kuwait's wide-ranging contingency 
plans ahead of a potential US-led conflict in Iraq, the GOK 
has established an Emergency Response Committee tasked with 
protecting the country's environment.  Still stinging from 
the devastating consequences of Saddam's campaign of 
"environmental terrorism" waged during the Gulf War, Kuwait 
has taken several steps to minimize fresh damage to its oil 
industry, marine wildlife, and general well-being of its 
citizenry.  While the GOK will need to rely on the US 
military and others to help protect its environment in the 
face of an Iraqi retaliation, especially involving missiles 
and chemical or biological agents, it is encouraging to see 
the effort Kuwait has made in this respect to again support 
the greater US cause.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. EconOff met March 9, 2003, with key members of Kuwait's 
newly-formed Emergency Response Committee: Dr. Mohammed 
Al-Sarawi, Chairman of Kuwait's Environment Public Authority 
(EPA); Dr. Rashed Hamad Al-Rashoud, EPA Deputy Director 
General; and Captain Ali Haider of the Sea Pollution 
Monitoring Department.  The EPA overseas the new Committee, 
which appointed Haider to supervise one of three 
environmental response stations monitoring for oil slicks, 
marine disruption, and air pollution resulting from an Iraqi 
strike or terrorist attack inside Kuwait. 
 
---------- 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
 
3.  Iraq's destruction in 1991 of Kuwait's oil fields and the 
consequent damage to the air and sea represents possibly the 
most intense environmental attack any country has ever 
endured.  Using the environment as a weapon, retreating Iraqi 
troops set hundreds of oil wells ablaze, turning Kuwait's sky 
black for days and causing billions of dollars in damage. 
The resulting catastrophe took a multi-national team months 
to clean up, while shattering Kuwait's economy, devastating 
its infrastructure, and contributing to the country's 
standing today among the world's worst environments.  (Kuwait 
ranked dead last out of 142 countries examined in the 2002 
Environmental Sustainability Index conducted annually by 
Columbia and Yale Universities.).  Ever mindful of its shared 
borders with Iraq, including coastline on the Persian Gulf 
and a major oil field, Kuwait has folded the environment into 
its wider contingency plans. 
 
4. Unlike 1990, when Kuwait was caught off guard by Iraq's 
invasion, the GOK is now preparing for the worst.  In 
mid-February, Kuwait's Ministry of Defense declared the 
northern three-fourths of the country a "military exclusion 
zone," restricting entry.  Kuwait's Civil Defense Department 
instigated a "We Are Ready" campaign to keep citizens 
informed, including how to stock home shelters and to deal 
with chemical or biological attacks.  Government and private 
offices are conducting mock evacuation drills.  Extra 
security forces are on the streets.  Weapons, gas masks, and 
chem-bio suits are selling in local stores.  Food ration 
cards have been promised to 150,000 families.  Hospitals are 
stockpiling medical supplies.  Quick intervention teams have 
been placed in schools.  And everyone from oil companies to 
the Kuwait Stock Exchange to the Public Department of Civil 
Aviation is hastily making plans for whatever happens next. 
 
------------------------ 
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 
------------------------ 
 
5. After nearly six months of discussions, the GOK announced 
February 23 that it had formed an Emergency Response 
Committee to address environmental protection measures. 
(Note.  Starting in October 2002, Post began asking the EPA 
whether it was preparing for potential environmental threats 
from Iraq and was repeatedly given vague answers of how 
contingency plans were in the works but not yet finalized. 
End Note.)  The Committee participants, in addition to the 
EPA, include representatives from Kuwait's Civil Defense 
Department, Ministry of Public Works, Ministry of Electricity 
and Water, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), 
oil companies, and other government agencies. 
 
6. The EPA has allocated 500,000 Kuwait Dinars (about USD 
$1.5 million) for Committee purposes, including the purchase 
of emergency equipment and the staffing of 23 emergency rooms 
throughout the country.  The Committee's contingency plan 
also involves the creation and operation of three larger 
emergency stations designed to collect data and report 
findings to a National Emergency Committee, which is led by 
the Ministry of Interior and is responsible for alerting the 
wider populace.  Under this scheme, the GOK intends to 
respond to environmental emergencies in the following areas 
of oil, water, and air: 
 
OIL 
--- 
7. The Ministry of Oil and subsidiaries of Kuwait Petroleum 
Corporation (KPC) have prepared their own contingency plans, 
which involve protecting oil fields, refineries, and tankers 
from an Iraqi counterattack, as well as maintaining Kuwait's 
OPEC production quota at 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd). 
Potential threats include missile attacks from Iraq, Saddam 
setting fire to his own oil fields on the border, and Iraqi 
sleeper cells or other militant groups operating inside 
Kuwait.  Should an oil fire break out, the GOK has contracted 
two international companies that specialize in extinguishing 
such blazes.  The Kuwaiti Fire Fighters Team has also 
received special training for oil fires and was recently 
placed on 24-hour alert status. 
 
8.  On March 3, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) announced that the 
Abdali and Riqqa oil fields near Kuwait's northern border 
with Iraq were shutting down and transferring workers for 
personal safety.  KOC Board Chairman and Managing Director 
Ahmad Rashid Al-Arbeed said all northern oil fields would be 
shut down in the event of war on Iraq, and other oil fields, 
such as Al-Rawdhatein and Al-Sabriya further south, would 
increase production to compensate for the roughly 400,000 bpd 
capacity of the northern fields.  Closure of western 
production areas, where the 300,000 bpd capacity Manaqeeesh 
oil field is situated, was also a possibility, Arbeed said. 
(A March 12 statement by KPC's chairman denied war would 
interrupt any operations, adding that Kuwait is currently 
producing its maximum 2.4 million bpd). 
 
9.  Meanwhile, US and other allied vessels operating in the 
Gulf have agreed to protect Kuwaiti tankers against any 
bombings, similar to those which damaged the USS Cole and the 
French oil tanker Limburg.  Bahrain-based US Navy spokesman 
Josh Frey told Kuwaiti press March 5 that "we have assets in 
the sea and in the air to monitor shipping in the 
international waters of the Central Command area of 
responsibility."  Frey said many US and other allied ships 
were available, if necessary.  Kuwait oil analyst Kamal 
Al-Harami said he was confident that US and allied naval 
ships will protect oil tankers in the Gulf and that the 
thousands of US and British troops deployed in the Kuwaiti 
desert near Iraq will provide a buffer for oil fields and 
refineries. 
 
WATER 
----- 
10. Oil also threatens Kuwait's coastline and marine 
environment.  The US Coast Guard has brought in equipment to 
contain oil spills, either initiated by Iraq from its own 
shores or from tankers placed in the Gulf.  EPA's Dr. Sarawi 
said Kuwait is equipped to handle spills ranging from 7,000 
to 10,000 barrels by combining efforts of the oil sector, 
Ministry of Electricity and Water, Ministry of Defense, 
Kuwaiti Coast Guard, and Port Authority.  For oil spills 
larger than 10,000 barrels, the GOK will rely on outside 
sources, including the Bahrain-based Marine Emergency Mutual 
Aid Center (MEMAC) and the UK-based Oil Spill Response, Ltd 
(OSRAL). Dr. Sarawi said the GOK has signed memorandums of 
understanding with oil companies operating in Kuwait and with 
other states in the region, including Iran, to share 
equipment and expertise in case of a large emergency. 
 
 
11.  During the Gulf War, oil flooding and toxic fumes 
severely affected Kuwait's marine wildlife, including killing 
many of fish, sea turtles, and aquatic plants.  To minimize 
further damage, Ali Haider of the Sea Pollution Monitoring 
Department said that a special emergency response station, 
the first of its kind in the Middle East, was being 
established near Kuwait's Shuaiba Port to monitor marine 
pollution and address environmental problems caused by oil 
slicks.  Should oil or other toxic agents be released in the 
Gulf, the EPA has contracted a $1 million Canadian boat to 
collect and dispose of dead fish, in an effort to protect the 
remaining sea population. 
 
AIR 
--- 
12. Dr. Sarawi said EPA headquarters serves as the hub for 
monitoring Kuwait's air quality, including rapid 
identification of any foreign substances entering the 
atmosphere.  The EPA relies on six fixed stations located in 
industrial, urban, and desert areas throughout country, which 
have been taking readings every five minutes over the last 15 
years on the level of pollutants in the air.  Three mobile 
labs roam Kuwait taking similar samples, as well as noting 
deviations in the weather.  EPA Director of Air Pollution Dr. 
Saud Al-Rashid told local press that the GOK is working to 
"enhance its efforts to counter any hazardous situation in 
Kuwait." 
 
13.   Toward this end, Dr. Salim Al-Hajraf of KISR recently 
unveiled a real time response model designed to address 
environmental pollution in any part of the country.  Dr. 
Al-Hajraf said the computerized model acquires information on 
pollution in a given place, compares data on gases in the 
atmosphere, and transfers the findings to the EPA's central 
data bank, where experts determine the best way to address 
the pollution.  One shortcoming, Dr. Sarawi noted, is that 
the EPA does not possess equipment necessary to recognize 
chemical or biological agents, and must rely on American and 
Czech specialists to share such information.  Should Iraq 
launch missiles into Kuwait, the GOK has established an alarm 
system to notify people on what safety measures they should 
follow, such as taking cover in one of the many shelters 
dispersed throughout the country. 
 
------------------ 
PROPERLY PREPARED? 
------------------ 
 
14.  On March 1, Kuwait's Minister of Justice Ahmed 
Al-Abdullah said during a seminar titled "Security of 
Citizens under the Present Circumstances" that the GOK has 
made adequate preparations to face any emergency in the event 
of hostilities.  On the environmental front, Dr. Sarawi said 
in a meeting last week attended by public and private 
enterprises that the EPA is now ready to meet any disaster in 
Kuwait.  This week the Emergency Response Committee plans to 
issue more than 5,000 copies of an 80-page magazine called 
"Our Environment," which will carry features on chemical and 
biological weapons, preparations for emergency shelters, and 
other precautionary advise. 
 
15. The EPA has also appointed an official spokesman to 
coordinate with the media and to inform the public of 
developments, as well as  providing three hotline numbers 
manned 24 hours a day to field questions.  Nevertheless, EPA 
officials have their doubts whether most Kuwaitis are 
properly preparing themselves for future events.  Beyond 
military personnel, only a small percentage of people own gas 
masks, nor do they have adequate protection or supplies at 
their homes, Dr. Sarawi said.  His deputy Al-Rashoud added: 
"Everyone here is putting his faith in God and America.  They 
figure the US Military can deal with the worst problems, so 
why should they care?" 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
17. Despite typical early inertia, the GOK has finally begun 
paying attention to the potential threat posed by Saddam 
Hussein reaping revenge on Kuwait through its fragile and 
vulnerable environment.  The Emergency Response Committee has 
made strides coordinating key players in this effort, 
including inviting Post to participate in its next 
inter-agency planning meeting.  As in most other security 
matters, Kuwait will need to rely heavily on the US and 
others to protect its environment in the face of an Iraqi 
attack.  It is encouraging, however, to see the Kuwaitis 
cooperating in this respect to support the greater US cause, 
as they have done consistently in other areas of concern. 
JONES