Jump to content

Gulf War oil spill

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Gulf War oil spill happened in January of 1991 during the Gulf War when Iraq troops were retreating from Kuwait.[1] Shortly after Coalition forces (made up of 39 countries) started the air campaign against Iraq, Iraqi soldiers opened the valves at the Sea Island oil terminal.[1] This released between five and ten million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf—the largest oil spill in history.[2] The spill was an environmental disaster.[2] It destroyed the coastal habitats and marine wildlife in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.[2]

References

[change | change source]
  1. 1.0 1.1 Paul R. Baumann. "Environmental Warfare: 1991 Persian Gulf War". State University of New York College at Oneonta. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mark Tutton (4 June 2010). "Lessons learned from the largest oil spill in history". CNN. Retrieved 7 April 2016.