VZCZCXRO8123
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0238/01 0291445
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 291445Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1467
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 000238 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EPET ECIN KHDP KSCA IZ
SUBJECT: THE IRAQ MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT'S EVOLVING ROLE 
 
REF: 08 BAGHDAD 3565 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) The Ministry of Environment (MoEnv) lacks sufficient 
training and equipment to execute its main responsibilities 
of environmental monitoring and clean up, Minister Narmin 
Othman told EMIN on January 22.  Demining is presently a 
MoEnv responsibility, but the Ministry of Defense continues 
to encroach on this mission.  A key responsibility for MoEnv 
is the survey and clean-up of approximately 110 contaminated 
sites, 25 of which were identified in a 166-page 2005 United 
Nations Environment Program report (UNEP) as Iraq's most 
dangerous "hot spots."  MoEnv has allocated funds to clean up 
one site per year and claims to have completed clean-up at 
three sites (with UNEP assistance) and commenced at a forth. 
The MoEnv is responsible for water quality and wildlife 
monitoring in the marsh region, while the Ministry of Water 
Resources has responsibility to supply the necessary water. 
Due to water shortages caused upstream by dam projects in 
Turkey and flow diversion in Iran, she does not believe the 
marsh can be restored much more than the 40%-50% level that 
has already been reached.  GOI responsibility for oil spill 
response and cleanup in Iraq remains a nebulous topic.  MoEnv 
has oil spill monitoring responsibility, implying it is up to 
the Ministry of Oil (MoO) to perform the actual immediate 
response and clean up duties.  The Minister admitted GOI's 
ongoing negotiations with the Marine Emergency Mutual Aid 
Center (MEMAC) were "not going well," and said responsibility 
for that specific issue had been taken from MoEnv and handed 
over to the Prime Minister's legal advisor.  End summary. 
 
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Environment: A Novel Issue in Iraq 
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¶2. (SBU) Minister of Environment Narmin Othman told EMIN on 
January 22 that among the Ministry of Environment's (MoEnv) 
greatest needs is to build expertise.  "Everything linked to 
the environment is new in Iraq," she said, underscoring her 
ongoing challenge to bring environmental issues to the 
attention of both the Government of Iraq (GOI) and its 
citizens.  Major projects in Iraq now require an 
environmental impact statement, some of which are prepared by 
the MoEnv and others by private companies.  The Minister 
claimed she receives daily phone calls from various 
organizations throughout Iraq complaining that that the MoEnv 
is holding up progress.  "I do not care -- I work for Iraq, 
not the special interest groups who think they deserve 
exceptional treatment." 
 
¶3. (SBU) The MoEnv lacks proper training and equipment to 
execute its main responsibilities of environmental monitoring 
and clean up, Othman said, with emphasis on the ministry's 
limited capacity to write reports.  EMIN, stressing USG 
continued commitment to help build GOI capacity, noted that 
many of our bilateral environmental issues will now be 
addressed through the Strategic Framework Agreement under the 
Information and Technology Services Joint Coordination 
Committee (JCC).  Othman said she had already received a 
letter from the GOI appointing her as a member of that JCC. 
 
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MoEnv's Role in Demining, "Hot Spots," Marshes, and Oil Spills 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Demining is presently a MoEnv responsibility, but 
the Ministry of Defense continues to encroach on this 
mission.  "I think it is a corruption issue -- the MoD wants 
all of the money for training and mine clean-up operations 
for themselves."  According to the Minister, the Ottawa 
Qfor themselves."  According to the Minister, the Ottawa 
Treaty on land mines requires each country's mine action 
authority to be overseen by a civilian agency.  Iraq has over 
25 million mines throughout the country, she said, with the 
vast majority in the north (from Saddam's repression of the 
Kurds in the 1980s and 1990s) and in the southern provinces 
from the Iran-Iraq War and First Gulf War.  (Comment: MNF-I 
told EconOff that the United Nations Development Program's 
Mine Action Team has engaged the Prime Minister's Office 
(PMO), MoD, and MoEnv recently on numerous occasions to 
negotiate an agreement that would maintain MoEnv 
responsibility for this issue.  The PMO has not yet made a 
decision and the responsibility, for now, remains with MoEnv. 
 There are many examples of countries that have their 
national mine action authority under the Ministry of Defense, 
in full accord with the Ottawa Treaty.  End comment.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) A key ongoing issue for MoEnv is the survey and 
clean-up of approximately 110 contaminated sites, 25 of which 
were identified in a 166-page 2005 United Nations Environment 
Program report (UNEP) as Iraq's most dangerous "hot spots." 
 
BAGHDAD 00000238  002 OF 002 
 
 
The UNEP report also identified 5 locations for priority 
attention.  MoEnv has allocated funds to clean up one site 
per year and claims to have completed clean-up at three sites 
(with UNEP assistance) and commenced at a forth.  Othman 
added, however, that these cleanups are not done very well 
and often are not complete.  (Comment:  The Minister also 
claimed depleted uranium (DU) as a particular environmental 
threat in Iraq, but continually mischaracterized the danger 
as a radiation problem.  EmbOff tried to correct this 
misconception, noting that DU dust can be dangerous if 
inhaled, but DU is not otherwise dangerous as a radiation 
threat or ground water contaminant.  It did not appear that 
the Minister recognized the distinction.  End comment.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) The MoEnv is responsible for water quality and 
wildlife monitoring in the marsh region, while the Ministry 
of Water Resources has "responsibility for filling the 
marshes," she said.  MoEnv is fulfilling their water 
monitoring responsibilities through an ongoing joint project 
with the UNEP, Government of Italy, and Government of Japan. 
"I brought peace to the region," she claimed, through her 
efforts to inform local stakeholders and build consensus for 
united action.  "Like the Titanic, we were all going to go 
down together if we did not come to an understanding."  The 
GOI Minister of the Marshlands, she claimed, "is hunting in 
the marshes, killing the birds, and wants to introduce new 
fish species, whereas I am trying to protect the fish that 
are already there."  Due to water shortages caused upstream 
by dam projects in Turkey and flow diversion in Iran, she 
does not believe the marsh can be restored much more than the 
40%-50% level that has already been reached.  (Comment: 
Drought persists throughout the Middle East and water 
shortage to the marshes is attributed predominantly to 
drought.  End comment.).  She hopes to make the Iraqi marshes 
a National Heritage Site and ensure they do not lose their 
hard-won gains.  (Comment:  The Minister will travel to 
Nairobi, Kenya, on February 14th to attend the 25th Session 
of the Governing Council of the Global Ministerial Forum. 
She will be heading a panel on gender and environment as well 
as delivering a brief on the Iraq marshes.  End comment.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) GOI responsibility for oil spill response and 
cleanup in Iraq remains a nebulous topic.  The Minister said 
MoEnv has oil spill monitoring responsibility, implying it 
was up to the Ministry of Oil (MoO) to perform the actual 
immediate response and clean up duties.  She said the 
Ministry sent a letter to MoO underscoring the dangers of the 
dilapidated state of the large southern export pipeline which 
is already many years beyond its design lifetime.  "All of 
Iraq expired 25 years ago," she quipped, specifically citing 
water, sewage, and oil infrastructure.  The Minister admitted 
GOI's ongoing negotiations with the Marine Emergency Mutual 
Aid Center (MEMAC) were "not going well," and said 
responsibility for that specific issue had been taken from 
MoEnv and handed over to the PM's legal advisor, Dr. Fadel. 
(Comment:  CAPT Janahi, MEMAC Director, recently confirmed to 
EconOff that Iraq had not yet paid its yearly MEMAC 
membership dues or arrears (reftel).  End comment.) 
 
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Comment 
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¶8. (SBU) MoEnv handles a hodgepodge of issues and has an 
uphill battle, as do its counterparts in other developing 
countries, convincing other GOI ministries and agencies that 
environmental protection and remediation efforts should not 
be sacrificed for the sake of economic development.  Despite 
its shortcomings in financing and technical capability, 
Qits shortcomings in financing and technical capability, 
however, MoEnv has the lead on several important issues that 
are common to the region such as a fragile desert ecosystem. 
Developing and implementing the appropriate policies requires 
a coordinated interagency effort.  We will use the planned 
Environment Working Group under the Strategic Framework 
Agreement structure to explore ways to bolster MoEnv 
capabilities and their position within the GOI. 
CROCKER