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Viewing cable 06KUWAIT362, REGIONAL MARINE ENVIRONMENT HEAD TALKS WATER

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06KUWAIT362 2006-02-01 10:09 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Kuwait
VZCZCXRO8430
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHKU #0362/01 0321009
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011009Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2803
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000362 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/RA, OES 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ENRG KU IR
SUBJECT: REGIONAL MARINE ENVIRONMENT HEAD TALKS WATER 
POLLUTION, CONCERNS OVER IRAN 
 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: On January 30, Ambassador met with the 
Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine 
Environment (ROPME) Executive Secretary Dr. Abdul Rahman 
Al-Awadhi to discuss his organization's work.  ROPME is 
funded by the six GCC countries plus Iraq and Iran, and is 
responsible for monitoring pollution and environmental 
degradation in the Persian Gulf, which it carries out by 
monitoring satellite imagery and collecting water and soil 
samples.  Al-Awadhi identified pollution from ships as the 
primary concern, noting that 70,000 ships pass through Gulf 
waters each year.  He also expressed concern about Iran's 
Bushehr nuclear facility, noting that its location on the 
water could cause serious environmental damage should there 
be radiation leakage.  Al-Awadhi said the Iranians had been 
unresponsive to requests for information on the environmental 
impact of Bushehr.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (U) On January 30, Ambassador, accompanied by Econoff, 
met with the Regional Organization for the Protection of the 
Marine Environment (ROPME) Acting Coordinator Dr. Abdul 
Rahman Al-Awadhi.  ROPME was founded in 1978 on the heels of 
the Regional Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the 
Protection and Development of the Marine Environment and the 
Coastal Areas of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, 
Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.  Since that time, 
ROPME has monitored water quality and pollution levels in the 
Persian Gulf, and provided training to member states' 
environmental authorities. 
 
3.  (U) Every three years ROPME sends a survey ship to take 
water and soil samples from 300 different locations in the 
Gulf.  The first of these surveys, in the early 1990s, was 
conducted in conjunction with the U.S. National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and provided what Al-Awadhi 
described as "a baseline" of data, which was, he said, "not 
as bad as we had thought."  Al-Awadhi said these surveys cost 
approximately $750,000 each to conduct, but that they will 
soon be replaced by a system of sensor-equiped buoys. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Environmental Challenges in the Gulf 
------------------------------------ 
 
4.  (U) Al-Awadhi highlighted the challenges to the Gulf's 
marine environment, noting that ship pollution was his 
primary concern.  He said that around 70,000 ships per year 
transit the Gulf, and that ship-borne sewage, oil waste, and 
contaminated ballast water are all serious environmental 
hazards.  At present, most of these pollutants are dumped in 
the Gulf of Oman before ships enter the Straits of Hormuz and 
into the Gulf proper.  Al-Awadhi said that ROPME uses 
satellite imagery to detect pollution in this area.  The 
volume of shipping raises the risk of incidents such as oil 
spills, he said, noting that roughly 25,000 oil tankers enter 
the Gulf each year.  Al-Awadhi said GCC countries have 
discussed constructing a North-South pipeline to an offshore 
berth on the Omani coast (outside the Gulf itself) to reduce 
the risk, but he did not indicate that these talks had made 
much progress. 
 
5.  (U) The Gulf is a shallow, and therefore fragile body of 
water, Al-Awadhi said.  Upstream dams have reduced the volume 
of water entering it, and reliance on desalination has 
lowered the water level and led to increased salinity.  He 
said lower water levels mean more tidal incursion from the 
Gulf of Oman, bringing foreign marine species which threaten 
indigenous marine life.  Al-Awadhi said that the Gulf "could 
be a dead sea within 15 years if we do nothing." 
 
6.  (U) Al-Awadhi listed other environmental challenges in 
the region such as reviving the Iraqi marshes, completion of 
a certification program to ensure that ships dispose of waste 
properly, and an agreement with GCC nations that no 
"substandard" ships be allowed into Gulf ports.  He gave the 
example of requiring that all oil tankers be double-hulled. 
Al-Awadhi asserted that ROPME has the authority to seize 
ships that do not comply with environmental regulations in 
international waters, although he was equivocal when asked 
exactly how that works. 
 
--------------------- 
Worries About Bushehr 
--------------------- 
 
7.  (SBU)  Al-Awadhi expressed concern about the Iranian 
nuclear facility at Bushehr, noting that its location on the 
water could have disastrous consequences in the event of 
radiation leakage.  Radiation leakage in water, he explained, 
is difficult to detect, and could easily seep into the human 
 
KUWAIT 00000362  002 OF 002 
 
 
food chain through fish and other marine animals.  He said he 
has been unsuccessful in getting information from the Iranian 
government about the Bushehr project, and said that he didn't 
think Iran had taken the environmental impact into serious 
account.  Al-Awadhi suggested that the USG voice its concerns 
over Iran's nuclear activity in terms of its environmental 
impact, which he said was "just as serious as making a bomb." 
LeBaron