US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT1021

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001021 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP AND OES 
STATE PASS EPA 
AMMAN FOR ENVIRONMENT HUB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV, EPET, ALOW, IZ, KU 
SUBJECT: TFIZ01: OIL SMOKE CLOUDS OVER KUWAIT 
 
REF: KUWAIT 920 
 
1. SUMMARY:  People in Kuwait awoke March 21, 2003, to a dark 
sky north of the city.  Post confirmed through US military 
sources that the smoke clouds were caused from multiple oil 
well fires burning in Iraq and started by the Iraqis. 
Kuwait's Environment Public Authority (EPA) said the sky 
looked worse than it actually was and that the pollution 
first registered in Kuwait shortly after midnight did not 
pose any immediate health risks.  With winds forecast to 
continue blowing north to south over the next few days, more 
oil smoke was anticipated, and the EPA said it would notify 
post should the pollution reach dangerous health levels.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
2. Dr. Mohammad Al-Sarawi, Chairman of Kuwait's Environment 
Public Authority (EPA), told Econoff his organization began 
detecting low but rising levels of "sulfur oxide" in the 
Kuwaiti air shortly after midnight March 21, indicating 
hydrocarbons from burning oil.  The EPA takes air samples 
every five minutes from six fixed stations located throughout 
the country, as part of its Emergency Response program 
(reftel). 
 
3. At dawn, the sky north of the city appeared a dark 
purple-gray color.  US military sources in Kuwait confirmed 
later in the morning that the pollution was caused by 
multiple oil fires burning in Iraq, which were started the 
previous night by the Iraqis.  Fires were burning in the 
southern portion of Iraq's large Al-Rumaylah oil field, a 
small portion of which straddles the border into Kuwait, 
where it is called Radqa oil field. 
 
4. Dr. Sarawi said the pollution had not reached dangerous 
health levels.  He explained that the dark sky was caused by 
smoke trapped in the "inversion layer," held between colder 
and warmer air on either side, much like smog in an urban 
environment.  In  Kuwait's northern city of Jahra, the sulfur 
oxide level reached only 10 parts per billion, he said, and 
would have to reach more than ten times this amount to pose 
inhalation risks.  He added that by early afternoon the sky 
had cleared and the level of pollution had decreased 
throughout Kuwait. 
 
5. Dr. Sarawi said that he received several telephone calls 
from Kuwaiti and international media outlets with questions 
about the oil fires, but that his emergency operations center 
had not received any calls from concerned people living in 
Kuwait.  Likewise, Post's operations center did not receive 
any calls from American citizens asking about the pollution. 
 
6.  COMMENT: Given that many Kuwaitis and some Americans 
living in Kuwait were here during the Gulf War and remember 
how retreating Iraqi troops set hundreds of oil wells on 
fire, turning the skies over Kuwait City black for months, 
this most recent episode pales by comparison.  Nonetheless, 
Dr. Sarawi agreed to immediately inform Post should pollution 
from oil fires or other sources reach dangerous health 
levels, so that we can notify our staff and the larger Amcit 
community. 
JONES