Air Quality an Overlooked Casualty of War

[OneBlueSky]

Baghdad's electricity shortage has spawned a city of gas-run generators, a prime source of the growing pollution problem.
by Carol J. Williams
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 30, 2005

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-iraqpollute30jun30,1,2284945,print.story?coll=la-news-a_section

snip

More than two years after the fall of President Saddam Hussein, with reconstruction programs running well behind schedule because of the widespread insurgency, residents of Baghdad dependent on the public power grid usually get only six to eight hours of service per day. The electricity usually comes in three increments, separated by four- to six-hour blackouts.

With the nation's power plants producing about 65% of pre-invasion output, according to Shalash, tens of thousands of Iraqis have taken matters into their own hands by buying gas-powered generators or tapping into miniature electric stations set up illegally in their neighborhoods.

In a country where gasoline is traditionally cheap and plentiful, enterprising technicians have been installing and maintaining large generators and running power lines to homes on a pay-per-hour basis. Foreign advisors to the Iraqi government complain that the upstart generator operators are competing with state-run power plants for diesel fuel being imported to compensate for production shortfalls.

"You find at least two large generators in every street, and most homes have their own small one," said Hifa Abed Kareem Nosaif, a physicist and senior analyst at the Environment Ministry.

- more . . .

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-iraqpollute30jun30,1,2284945,print.story?coll=la-news-a_section