Environmental Exposure Report

Oil Well Fires

Environmental Exposure Reports contain what is known today about certain events of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-1991. This particular environmental exposure report focuses on events associated with US military personnel exposures to oil fire smoke. This is an interim, not a final, report. We hope you will read this and contact us with any information that would help us better understand the events reported here. With your help, we will be able to report more accurately on the events surrounding oil fire smoke exposures. Please contact my office to report any new information by calling:

1-800-497-6261

Bernard Rostker
Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses
Department of Defense

2000160-0000026 Ver 2.0

 

Last Update: August 2, 2000

Many Gulf War veterans have experienced a variety of physical symptoms, collectively called Gulf War illnesses. In response to veterans’ concerns, the Department of Defense (DoD) established a task force in June 1995 to investigate those incidents and circumstances related to possible causes. The Office of the Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense for Gulf War Illnesses assumed responsibility for these investigations on November 12, 1996, and continues to gather information on oil well fires. This is the office’s interim report.

To inform the public about the progress of this office, the Department of Defense publishes (on the Internet and elsewhere) accounts related to the possible causes of illness among Gulf War veterans, along with documentary evidence or personal testimony used in compiling the accounts. The environmental exposure report that follows is such an account.  Since this narrative's initial publication in November 1998, new information has been obtained that adds to or validates some of the facts of the original narrative.  The current narrative reflects these changes.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.   SUMMARY
 
II.  METHODOLOGY
A. Purpose Statement
B. Discussion
1. Data Collection and Evaluation
2. Toxicity Assessments
3. Exposure Assessment
4. Risk Characterization
III. CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
A. Discussion
B. Intelligence Before Hostilities Began
C. The Reported Use of Oil Well Fires to Distribute Chemical Agents
D. Physical Hazards Associated with Oil Wells
E. Preventing Exposure
1. Risk Prevention and Reduction Policy to Prevent Exposure to Forces
2. Training and Equipment Provided to Prevent Exposure
F. The Nature and Extent of Destruction
IV. AIR POLLUTANTS FROM OIL FIRES AND OTHER SOURCES
A. Oil Well Fire Combustion Products
B. Smoke Plume Characteristics
C. Other Factors Contributing to Atmospheric Contamination
D. US and International Response
1. US Interagency Air Quality Assessment Team (USIAAT)
2. US Army Environmental Hygiene Agency
3. World Meteorological Organization
V. HEALTH EFFECTS ASSESSMENT
A. Background
B. Contaminant Levels
C. Background Sources of Contaminants
D. Possible Health Effects of Oil Fires
E. Health Effects Associated with Short-term, Intense Exposures
VI. HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT
A. Background
B. Discussion
C. USAEHA Health Risk Assessment
D. USACHPPM Health Risk Assessment
VII. CONCLUSIONS
 
VIII. AREAS REQUIRING ADDITIONAL RESEARCH
 
IX. LESSONS LEARNED
A. Health Risk Identification and Assessment
B. Medical (or Health) Surveillance
C. Risk Management
D. Information Management
TAB A – Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Glossary
 
TAB B – Bibliography
 
TAB C – Fighting the Oil Well Fires
 
TAB D – Geography
 
TAB E – Climate
 
TAB F – Kuwait’s Demography
 
TAB G – Kuwait’s Oil Industry
 
TAB H – DoD Guidance
 
TAB I – Veteran Interview Outline
 
TAB J – Plume Configurations
 
TAB K – Changes in this Report
 
END NOTES


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