Iranian Oil Spill Hits Birds

Discovery Communications Inc.

Thousands of birds in Iran have been killed by an oil leak that has spawned a huge slick on a large lagoon in southern Abadan.

Kazem Sepehrfar, the head of the Environment Protection Organization in Khuzestan Province, said on Wednesday that oil leaking from refinery pipes near the international Shadegan Lagoon has polluted 250 acres of swamp in the area, inflicting "irreparable damage" to the area's flora and fauna.

The pipes are remnants of a period of conflict from the 1980s and have become old and corroded.
Sepehrfar said that the stricken lagoon is home to at least 150 species of birds. More than 30 per cent of Iran's total bird species inhabit the area. Local residents are also highly dependent upon the lagoon's fish for their sustenance.