On January 21, 1991, Iraqi forces opened valves at the Sea
Island oil terminal and dumped oil from several tankers into the
Persian Gulf. The apparent strategic goal was to foil a
potential landing by U.S. Marines. The oil moved southward,
ending up on the north coast of Saudi Arabia, endangering the
fragile intertidal zones and mangrove forests and destroying
wildlife habitats. The immediate reports from Baghdad said that
American air strikes had caused a discharge of oil from two
tankers. Coalition forces determined the main source of oil to
be the Sea Island terminal in Kuwait. American airstrikes on
January 26 destroyed pipelines to prevent further spillage into
the Persian Gulf. Several other sources of oil were found to be
active: tankers and a damaged Kuwaiti oil refinery near Mina Al
Ahmadi, tankers near Bubiyan Island, and Iraq's Mina Al Bakr
terminal.