Perth Laboratory – Public Seminar Series 2007

An Overview of the US$3 Billion Effort to Renew Kuwait’s Impacted Environment with a Focus on Groundwater Contamination in Kuwait’s only Freshwater Aquifers

Dr Greg Davis
Principal Research Scientist
Urban and Industrial Water research program
CSIRO Land and Water

Thursday 10 May 2007 at 3.30pm, CSIRO Auditorium

Abstract

In February 1991 over 800 crude oil wells were damaged or set on fire in Kuwait. Additionally, oil platforms discharged vast quantities of oil to the Arabian Gulf, and the desert environment was scarred by military operations and armament issues. Sixteen years later, soil and landscape damage is still apparent, oil lakes persist, groundwater remains impacted, and tenders are being developed to manage and carry out nearly US$3 Billion of cleanup.

In this presentation, Dr Davis will give an overview to the issues and compensation awarded to Kuwait – including some footage of efforts to extinguish the original oil well fires. In greater detail, he will present investigations carried out to determine the extent of contamination in groundwater in the only freshwater aquifers in Kuwait. Crude oil from the damaged oil wells flowed along drainage lines and wadis, and accumulated in shallow topographic depressions. The depressions are historic recharge zones to the underlying aquifers. Seawater used to extinguish the oil well fires also flowed over the oil into the depressions, recharging salts and soluble hydrocarbons to groundwater. Infiltration and hydrocarbon analysis studies and groundwater investigations were carried out, along with modelling to determine the type and extent of contamination in the aquifers. Information from these studies was used to devise and cost a remedial plan aimed at restoring the aquifers to pre-1991 conditions. The groundwater remedial plan and other plans for soil, sediment and the desert landscape will be part of the overall US$3 billion cleanup effort in Kuwait.

About the speaker

Greg leads a multi-disciplinary research group part of which focuses on research and technologies for the assessment and remediation of groundwater and soils impacted by potentially hazardous compounds, such as petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, pesticides, nutrients, munition compounds and metals. His particular interests are in describing the behaviour and fate of contaminants in subsurface environments, groundwater flow and solute transport, hydrocarbon vapour and soil gas behaviour, groundwater monitoring and sampling, field scale remedial technology demonstration and evaluation, and natural attenuation processes.

He has published over 130 journal and conference papers, and produced over 100 reports to industry, regulatory agencies and community groups. He is also Associate Editor of the Journal of Contaminant Hydrology and chairman of the organising committee for the Sixth International IAHS Groundwater Quality Conference (GQ07) to be held in Fremantle in December 2007.

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