Mr. O'NeillTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his assessment of the environmental impact of military operations conducted in the Gulf region by(a) Iraqi forces and (b) those forces seeking to implement United Nations resolutions; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HeseltineThe Government did not want this conflict, but Saddam Hussein's intransigence in the face of all peaceful pressures left no other course. Iraqi action has already led to damage to the environment as indicated by the deliberate release of oil into the Gulf. The Government together with the countries of the OECD has condemned this action as a violation of international law and a crime against the environment. As part of the Government's assistance to the Gulf states responding to the spill we have commissioned reports by the National Environment Council into the biological effects of the oil slicks. We have also commissioned and published a study by the Meteorological Office to examine the effects on the environment should Kuwaiti oil installations be fired.284W Copies of these reports are in the Library. Environmental factors are taken into account by the coalition forces as far as possible in the planning and conduct of military operations as part of the policy of ensuring that collateral damage from those operations is minimised.