Oil Spill in Abu Halifa, Kuwait

A large quantity of oil leaked from an oil tanker while offloading its contents along the Abu Halifa coastline recently, reports Al-Qabas daily quoting sources.
Sources confirmed the concerned officials at the Environment Public Authority (EPA), Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) and Kuwait Municipality were alerted immediately after the oil spill.
EPA Director Dr Salah Al-Mudhi disclosed a team from the authority rushed to the location after receiving information on the leakage to take the necessary precautionary measures. He attributed the success of the oil spill control operation to the proper coordination among the relevant authorities, particularly the KNPC, asserting the leakage was minimal.
Al-Mudhi disclosed a team of experts from KNPC siphoned off the oil and promised to clean the beach thoroughly, in collaboration with other relevant authorities.
Meanwhile, the Green Line Environment Group in Kuwait has called on the Parliament to look into the millions of dinars allegedly spent by KNPC to stop the leakage of oil from oil refineries.
In its recent press statement, the group slammed the concerned authorities for their failure to take the required steps to solve the problem, pointing out this clearly reflects the authorities’ lack of awareness on the risks involved, since the EPA director has had to dispatch an environment emergency team to the location to check the refineries.
Alleging the oil that leaked from the Mina Ahmadi refinery has reached the water desalination stations, the group warned this poses a grave threat to the health of residents in surrounding areas. The group claimed the constant leakage of oil from the refineries is due to the technical errors committed by the KNPC administration.
The group lamented the results of investigation might be similar to those conducted earlier, such as the dumping of chemicals in the middle of the refinery and other liquid waste material in the desert, in addition to the poisonous gases in Umm Al-Haiman and the chalet zone.

Interesting pics and news of the spill on NicoleB's blog [link]