GIS & Spatial Analysis

NRDA

Spill Response & Planning

Environmental & Coastal Resources Management

Database/ Applications Development

The Oiled Shoreline Survey (OSS) was one of several studies conducted by the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) to determine the impacts of the 1991 oil spill resulting from Iraq’s illegal invasion and occupation of Kuwait on the environment and public health, with funding provided by the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC). The fieldwork for the OSS was initiated on 25 September 2002 and completed on 7 March 2003. The study area extends from the western end of Abu Ali Island to the Kuwaiti border.

The objectives of the Oiled Shoreline Survey were:

• Complete a review (1) generally, of the effects of oil spills on intertidal shoreline habitats in semi-tropical and tropical environments, and (2) specifically, of all of the scientific literature on the 1991 oil spill on coastal habitats along the Arabian Gulf shoreline of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Identify areas of shoreline of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that are still impacted by the 1991 oil spill by locating and describing visible oil residues on the surface and in the subsurface confirmed by Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) analyses.
• Confirm through chemical analysis that the contaminated areas identified during the survey represent remnants of the 1991 oil spill, by use of analysis of historical information and “fingerprint” chemical analysis of sediment samples collected during the surveys.
• Analyze the temporal rates of natural oil removal and oil weathering by comparing data collected during this study in 2002 and 2003 with previous surveys conducted in 1992 and 1993.
• Quantify the length, width, and depth of the oiled sediments and the overlying sediments free of visible oil.
• Evaluate the ecological health of the shoreline. and
• Identify the factors that are affecting ecological recovery of oiled habitats.

Based on the successful completion of the fieldwork and the high quality of the field data collected, these objectives were met.