Dirty Gulf - A Health Problem

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خليج فارس يكي از آلوده ترين مناطق آبي جهان است


عضو هيئت علمي دانشگاه اصفهان خليج فارس را يكي از آلوده ترين مناطق آبي جهان برشمرد و بر ضرورت ايجاد ترتيبات حقوقي منطقه اي براي حفظ محيط زيست خليج فارس تاكيد كرد.


علي اميدي عضو هيئت علمي دانشگاه اصفهان امروز سه شنبه در هفدهمين همايش بين المللي خليج فارس به بحث ضرورت ترتيبات حقوقي منطقه اي براي حفظ محيط زيست خليج فارس پرداخت و با بيان اين كه مفهوم امنيت در دنياي امروز صرفا محدود به امور سياسي و نظامي نيست، گفت: بلكه تخريب محيط زيست يكي از عوامل مهم تهديدزاي زندگي انسان در جهان امروز است.
وي با اشاره به مطالعات صورت گرفته در خليج فارس توسط كارشناسان محيط زيست مبني بر اين كه خليج فارس يكي از آلوده ترين مناطق آبي جهان است و ميزان آلودگي نفتي آن دو برابر بيشتر از ساير درياهاست، گفت: نتايج مطالعات كارشناسي نشان مي دهد سالانه بيش از 610 تن فاضلاب و زباله كشتي در خليج فارس رها مي شود و از آن جا كه بيش از 12 هزار شناور اقيانوس پيما و 6 هزار موتور لنج در آب هاي جنوبي ايراد تردد مي كنند خطرات زيست محيطي به شدت اين منطقه را تهديد مي كند.
اميدي اضافه كرد: براساس برآوردهاي انجام شده بيش از 90 درصد حمل و نقل خارجي ايران با كشتي و 99 درصد صادرات نفتي با نفتكش صورت مي گيرد كه در اين زمينه سرازيري انواع مواد زائد همچون ضايعات محموله و موتورخانه، پساب كشتي و ... وضعيت زيست محيطي دريا را بدتر كرده است.
به گفته وي ورود فاضلاب مناطق شهري و فعاليت هاي اقتصادي اعم از صنعتي، معدني، اسكله ها و ... از سوي ايران و ساير كشورهاي همجوار موجب بغرنج شدن وضعيت آلودگي خليج فارس شده است.
عضو هيئت علمي گروه علوم سياسي دانشگاه اصفهان با اشاره به انعقاد معاهدات مختلف درباره حفظ محيط زيست به خصوص محيط زيست درياها در سطح بين المللي، گفت: ولي به دليل فقدان مكانيسم هاي نظارت و اجرا، كمترين توجه به اين معاهدات در خليج فارس صورت مي گيرد.
اميدي يادآور شد: تاكنون در سطح منطقه اي هيچ معاهده منطقه اي موثر و فراگير براي كاهش آلودگي در خليج فارس منعقد نشده است.
وي بر ضرورت ايجاد ترتيبات حقوقي منطقه اي براي حفظ محيط زيست خليج فارس تاكي كرد.
در اين همايش كه در محل دفتر مطالعات سياسي و بين المللي در حال برگزاري است 60 مهمان خارجي از 28 كشور جهان حضور دارند.

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Pollution in Persian Gulf
by Morteza Aminmansour

The Persian Gulf is a 600 – mile body of water. Persian Gulf is the most strategic waterways in the world due to its importance in the global oil transportation.
Due to the war and high rate of water evaporation, extended drilling and oil extraction, pollution of the water has increased alarmingly. The Persian Gulf is now one of the sensitive marine ecosystems.

The Persian Gulf is the presence of coral colonies and plant spices and need clear protection because of its crucial role in the earth’s life supporting phenomena.
The effects of industrial pollution, oil spills on the marine environment is forcing us to focus on the problem and the need for coastal conservation.

The Avecina and mangroves plants are among the sea resources that provide an ideal living environment for shrimp.

The plants living on the seabed near the shore are supporting the marine life such as dugongs and turtles. The extraction of oil from coastal areas is causing the most important problem such as pollution.

The eight-year Iraq imposed war against IRAN and KUWAIT inflicted serious damage on Persian Gulf and its biological resources. Many sea birds and other spices of marine life have perished because of entering millions tones of crude oil into the Persian Gulf. Because the ecosystem in the Persian Gulf is Vulnerable, regional cooperation among the states is strongly recommended.
The formation of regional organization for protection the coastline and the marine environment are required.

The protection of environment cal benefits all countries among the Persian Gulf. I would like to suggest the monitoring the biodiversity, the marine life of the Persian Gulf.

We experienced serious environmental damage in 1991 Gulf war. The world largest oil spill, estimated 8 million barrels. The gulf waters in coastal areas of IRAN, KUWAIT, and SAUDI ARABIA were fouled. The Saudi Arabia had the worst damage. Because the animals and plants of the seafloor are the basis of the food chain, damage to the shoreline consequences for the whole shallow- water ecosystem.

The impact of the damage affected the multimillion-dollar Saudi fisheries industry and surrounding area including Medina al Jubayl. The spill threatened industrial facilities in Al Jubayl . The greatest pollution was experienced in Abu Ali Island. The large number of marine birds, such as grebes, cormorants, and auks were killed.

Beaches along the entire Al Jubayl coastline were covered with tar balls and oil. The exploding and burning of 700 miles oil wells in Kuwait created staggering levels of atmospheric pollution.
The produced lakes of oil in the Kuwaiti desert equal in volume to twenty times the amount of the oil that poured into the Persian Gulf. The soot from the Kuwaiti fires was found in the snows of the Himalayas and in rainfall over Iran and former Soviet Union countries, Turkey and Oman.

The oil spill and oil fires have affected the water quality, Vegetation, human health as major sources of environmental damage including toxic materials.
The amount of oil leaked into the Persian Gulf waters during 1991 Gulf War was estimated in November 1991 between Six and eight million barrels.

In 1998 the accident involved a barge laden with crude oil from Iran that was being towed by a Dubai-registered tugboat.
The 11,000-ton barge was sinking some eight kilometers of the UAE’s northern coastline. Some 4,000 tons of leaking crude oil has polluted the sea along the emirates of Ajman, posing a threat to its water supply. The Gulf region has scare fresh water sources and depends on desalination plants that purify uncontaminated seawater into drinking water.

The Ajman desalination plant was shut down as a precautionary measure due to the oil slick that threatened the region. The Persian Gulf’s waters are the home to diverse range of marine and bird life including five types of turtles, dugongs and dolphins. Oil spills are a nightmare in the Persian Gulf, the world’s busiest oil channel.
In July 1997, adiesel-carring barge ran aground and spilled more than 5,000 tons of diesels of the UAE emirate of SHARJAH, contaminating the local water supply.
The worst oil spill in UAE was in 1994 when two super tankers collided of the coast of Fujairah, resulting in the leakage of some 16,000 tons of crude.

The tanker collisions, tanker washout is among the most illegal activities in the Persian Gulf.
The conservation of the marine environment of the Persian Gulf is highly recommended.
The Major sources of pollution are:
1) Pollution from ships
2) Pollution from Land-based sources
3) Pollution caused by dumping from ships and aircraft
4) Pollution resulting from exploration and exploitation of the bed of the territorial sea, the continental shelf and the sub-soil thereof.
5) Pollution from other human activities

References:

J. Mike Williamson( principal investigator-Whale Net, Britain – Endangered Seas).
Pilot Whales beaches
Stainislav Patin, Environmental impact of the offshore oil and gas industry.
Snehalatha, Protecting the Persian Gulf .
Xinhua news agency, Gulf oil pollution threatens mangroves.
Saudi Arabia , The environment and the 1991 Persian Gulf.

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Environmental Consequences Of The Gulf War
Excerpts from the Congressional Record, April 16, 1991
By: Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi

Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to an issue and a situation that has the concern of many of the families in my district who have children, husbands, brothers, and sisters in the Persian Gulf. Mr. Speaker, while agencies and task forces take samples and analyze data to determine the health risks of Saddam Hussein's ecoterrorism, there can be no doubt that U.S. troops stationed in the gulf are being exposed to an unusually high amount of air pollution. The calls I have received from the families of troops in the Persian Gulf from my district are concerned that the troops are not home yet. Some of them have conveyed to their parents that they will not be home until September, after a long, hot summer in the Persian Gulf, and they are very concerned about the atmosphere of the air that they breathe while they are in Kuwait.

Mr. Speaker, thick clouds of black smoke from the well fires have been spewing into Kuwaiti skies for over a month, obscuring the sun with air pollutants estimated at 10 times the amount produced by all the industrial and electric generating plants in the United States combined. Air pollution from oil well fires is so bad that soldiers stationed in the gulf need flashlights to see in the daytime, and the flags that fly over the newly liberated Kuwait are streaked with soot.

The Environmental Protection Agency has detected some air pollutants attributed to the gulf fires halfway around the world at its Mauna Loa station in the Hawaiian Islands.

Larry Flak, the American engineer coordinating fire fighting efforts, says, `We guess about 520 or 530 oil wells are burning, but surveys are still going on.'

Douglas Dockery of the Harvard School of Public Health warns that cancer and cardiovascular disease may increase due to the fires, but that it will be years before we know the full extent of the health risk.

From the ground, however, there is less uncertainty. Said U.S. Sgt. Mike Poss, who is serving in the gulf, `We're not stupid. They say the pollution is no worse than New York City. I have been to New York, and it doesn't look like this.'

Sergenat Poss' remarks were echoed by Mort Lippman of the New York University Medical School, who said, `Nobody has ever been exposed to something like this before.'

Atmospheric pollution on this scale has not occurred in our history. We need to be aggressive in our pursuit of data so that we have a better idea of the long-term effects of the toxics overwhelming the air, land, and water of the gulf region. Some of these pollutants may turn out to be carcinogenic. For our troops we could have another agent orange.

Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that we provide our troops with whatever medical attention they need, now and into the future, to cope with the health effects of exposure to pollution resulting from the gulf war.

We must also increase our commitment to assist in environmental restoration of the gulf area and to protect civilians in the region from Saddam's ecoterrorism.
Mr. Speaker, our colleague, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Goss] has introduced a resolution condemning Saddam Hussein's ecoterrorism. I thank him for his leadership in keeping this issue before us and also for his leadership in the action he has taken.

Mr. Speaker, as we speak tonight, the gulf itself is surging with oil . Three thousand barrels a day continue to pour into the gulf from offshore oil rigs. This amounts to an Exxon Valdez oil spill every 3 months.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, 4 million barrels have been spilled into the gulf waters, making this the largest oil spill in the history of the world, eight times that of the Exxon Valdez.

Mr. Speaker, the oil has severely damaged the Saudi shrimp fishery, the coral reefs, and the ecosystems that provide vital habitats for endangered sea turtles and marine mammals. Over 100 small islands provide excellent and internationally significant habitat for sea turtle nesting and for migratory birds. The northernmost coral reefs in the world are found in the gulf.

There were many warnings about the possibility of oil spills and other assaults on the environment. When we had the debate on the issue of sanctions before this body, these issues were brought before the House of Representatives in the course of that debate. It was not restricted to our debate.

Headlines across the country warned: `War in the Gulf, an Environmental Perspective,' `Wars and Environmental Implications Go Beyond a Simple Desert Storm,' `Targeting the Environment: A Casualty No One is Counting--The Earth,' `Vital Saudi Water Plant Prepares for Oil Slick,' `Environmental Disaster Feared in Persian Gulf,' `The Hidden Casualties: The Environmental Consequences of the Gulf Conflict,' `Experts Warn of Global Fallout from Warfare.' `Damage of Oil Across the Globe.' `Saddam Hussein Could Respond to Attack by Unleashing a Massive Oil Spill in Gulf,' and well he did. `Waging War on the Earth.'

This was a predictable consequence of war. Unfortunately, we were dealing with someone who had no regard for human life, and no regard for the environment, in the person of Saddam Hussein. But now we have to deal wtih the consequences of his ecoterrorism.

Yet, despite these warnings, much of the advance planning needed to address this crisis was nonexistent.

Booms arrived after the oil slick was detected; dikes were not constructed in time to prevent marine areas from being flooded with oil ; and critical equipment needs were not addressed early on.

Today, there is still no around-the-clock monitoring of the air quality in Kuwait.

EPA has conducted a preliminary study and issued its report on air quality. At this time, EPA reports that there is no danger to human health, although they admit that the jury is still out.
This study is inadequate for determining the immediate, as well as longer term effects of breathing the high sulfur and nitrogen content in the air.

This is the concern of the parents and families of the troops in the Persian Gulf from my district, and, I have learned, from the districts of some Members in the House who have also heard from their constituents on this point.

The apparatus for monitoring the area is still not in place. EPA has plans for more complete monitoring, but the pace to accomplish this basic first step has been slow, due partly to Saudi Government delays.

No research has been done on possible damage to the food chain.

Generally, there has been a lack of coordination, a lack of equipment, and a lack of initiative by the U.S. Government to respond to this serious environmental situation.

WHAT MUST WE DO?

There must be a stronger international environmental code for war, including enforcement mechanisms to be applied against violating nations.

Sophisticated technology has increased the range, speed, and accuracy of war weapons. During the gulf war, oil wells , refiners and chemical plants, and nuclear facilities were bombed, with the potential for emitting poisonous gases into the atmosphere. These pollutants may be detected in soil, ground water, and other areas of the environment for years.

The environment cannot be held hostage; war on the environment is unacceptable.
Because mined oil fields are preventing firefighters from approaching some of the oil fires, military strategies must be put in place to ensure that the mines are cleaned as quickly as possible from the fire areas.

Air pollution cannot be controlled without this strong effort to sweep the area free of mines.

To address the immediate crisis, Congress must take actions.

I have called upon the Subcommittee on International Organizations to hold hearings on the environmental effects of the gulf war. Chairman Yatron has agreed to hold hearings next week which will address the issue.

I might add that on his own, the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Yatron] has demonstrated great leadership on this subject. Were it not for him, we would not have the opportunity next week for us to gain the important testimony that is necessary for us to proceed.

Congressman Gilman and I are circulating a letter to the President urging him to take quick action to implement section 309 of the dire emergency supplemental for fiscal year 1991. The bill encourages the administration to work toward the creation of an international agreement for environmental monitoring, assessment, remediation and restoration in the Persian Gulf region.

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I invite Members to join the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman], along with many other Members in the House, and me, in signing this letter to the President.

Because of the unique position of the United Nations Environmental Programme [UNEP] to help in this crisis, Congress should help by approving a voluntary appropriation to the UNEP `special environmental fund' used to address the environmental problems created by the gulf war.

Mr. Speaker, the United States, in conjunction with its coalition partners, has an opportunity to make an important difference. We can and must step up to the task. Our soldiers need medical attention to ensure their future well-being; the people of the Persian gulf need our help to stave off the health risks and economic hardship that will follow this environmental crisis; and the world community needs an international code of conduct that will strongly discourage future military aggressors from using environmental destruction as a weapon of war.

I would even go further than that, than discourage, but would strongly punish future military aggressors from using environmental destruction as a weapon of war.

Mr. Speaker, much has been said in the press in the last week and a half and in other areas of debate about the Kurdish situation, and indeed it is a sin against humanity to see what is happening there and our inability to effectively deal with it. But some leadership is being taken on that now, and we must do everything we can to meet the needs of the Kurds who are fleeing Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, while we are doing that, we must also pay attention to the environmental damage which our troops are being exposed to, as well as the other people who live in the region. To do anything less, to ignore what is happening to the Kurdish people and to ignore the damage to the environment, is to dishonor the God who made them all.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Pollution in Persian Gulf Threatens Halobios and Human Beings
Samples of fish recently caught in the Persian Gulf have showed that trace of heavy toxic metals, such as mercury and lead, in the Gulf has reached to a record level.

This illustrated that the sprawling pollution in the region, particularly oil-related pollution, has become a dangerous threat to marine lives as well as human beings, the official WAM news agency of the United Arab Emirates reported on Friday.

Quoted by the WAM, Abdulaziz Al-Madfa, director general of Sharjah Environment and Protected Areas Authority, said that the rapid growth of the Gulf countries in the past two decades has caused the serious marine pollution.

Madfa said that oil stations along the beaches throughout the region are leaking huge quantities of oil into the sea day by day while supplying oil tankers.

In addition to accidents occurring in some offshore oil fields, the sinking of a large number of unseaworthy tankers and the routine cleaning of oil tankers in the sea have also caused the marine pollution, he said.

The official noted that using chemicals to clean the oil slick could be more dangerous than the oil slick itself in killing the halobios.

As many researches have demonstrated that marine pollution has great impacts on mankind and can cause many diseases, including mental problems, Madfa said.

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EPO head expresses concern over Persian Gulf pollution

Bandar Abbas, Hormuzgan Prov., Aug 13, IRNA -- Vice President and head of the Environment Protection Organization (EPO) Masoumeh Ebtekar said the issue of environment has not been developed within the country parallel with the development of other sectors.

Addressing a provincial administrative gathering Saturday night, Ms Ebtekar said the Third Five-Year Development Plan (2000-2005) provides a rare opportunity for making a required coordination and developing a proper understanding of such a macro policy.

Stressing that the environment sector should be viewed as an economic arena, she said sufficient credits should be allocated to this category so that it would not put added pressures on other sectors.

Expressing deep concern over the recent pollution of the Persian Gulf waters as a result of oil leakage, Ms Ebtekar said the issue demanded serious attention by the concerned organizations.

She said that research cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kuwait-based Regional Organization for the Protection of Marine Environment (ROPME) is aimed at protection of the Persian Gulf environment.

Ebtekar announced the launching of the marine patrol for conducting environmental research works in the Persian Gulf coastal areas and underlined the significance of the plan for Iran both from national and regional points of view.

She said in the present millennium the world reliance for obtaining 50 percent of its oil requirements is still on the Persian Gulf region, adding that 100 vessels navigate the Strait of Hormuz every day which cause pollution in the waterway.

Therefore, she further remarked, it causes deep concern for those who view the Persian Gulf as an aquatic reserve in the region. She called on all the regional states to take serious steps towards rehabilitation of such an immense resource.

She said that oil pollution in the Persian Gulf is so serious that the EPO has proposed formation of a marine environment guard in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and the Caspian Sea.

The EPO head said the first stage of the marine patrol is launched in the northern part of the Persian Gulf up to the international waters and the second phase will be launched in the southern waters next year with the cooperation of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The research patrol is higher in quality as compared with previous research patrols conducted by Japan and the U.S., she said.

Elsewhere in her remarks, Ebtekar pointed to the Rls 10 billion national credit granted to the EPO as part of the allocations to compensate for the widespread drought and said the sum will be spent on the revival of wild habitats and lagoons.

In the course of her one-day tour of Hormuzgan Province, Ms Entekar participated in the session of the provincial administrative council and launched the marine patrol for conducting research works in the Persian Gulf waters.