The Gulf War Oil Spill:
The Gulf War Oil Spill took place January 1991, in the Persian Gulf during the Gulf War. Iraqi forces opened the valves at Sea Island oil terminal and dumped oil from tankers into the ocean. The point of this was to foil the US Marines plan to land. The US reacted by accusing the Iraqis of environmental terrorism, seeing as they purposely dumped millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf. The spill not only had political impacts, but it also had a significant impact on the environment. It resulted in considerable damage in wildlife in the Persian Gulf, and it is estimated that somewhere in between 4 million and 6 million barrels of oil were dumped into the Gulf. At its largest, the spill was 101 mi. by 42 mi. and was up to 5 inches thick. The oil either evaporated, was recovered, or washed ashore. In an attempt to stop the spread of the oil before it spread any further (such as water purification plants) the oil was burned. Some areas in the Persian Gulf are still affected today, seeing as some marshlands still contain large amounts of oil from the spill.