Precision Bombing, Widespread Harm Two Case Studies of the Bombings of Industrial Facilities at Pancevo and Kragujevac During Operation Allied Force, Yugoslavia 1999 Sriram Gopal and Nicole Deller Institute for Energy and Environmental Research November 2002 2 Table of Contents CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS.................................................................................................................... 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... 7 PREFACE..................................................................................................................................................... 9 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 11 MAIN FINDINGS....................................................................................................................................... 12 RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................................................................. 13 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 17 A. POST COLD WAR YUGOSLAVIA AND OPERATION ALLIED FORCE .................................................. 17 B. PANCEVO INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX..................................................................................................... 23 Setting................................................................................................................................................. 23 Hydrogeology of the area................................................................................................................... 26 Pre-conflict levels of pollution........................................................................................................... 27 C. KRAGUJEVAC INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX.............................................................................................. 28 Setting................................................................................................................................................. 28 Hydrogeology of the area................................................................................................................... 28 Pre-conflict levels of pollution........................................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER 2: BOMBINGS AND CHEMICAL RELEASE AT PANCEVO........................................ 31 A. DESCRIPTION OF RELEASES AT INDIVIDUAL FACILITIES............................................................. 31 HIP Petrohemija ................................................................................................................................31 NIS Oil Refinery ................................................................................................................................32 HIP Azotara ....................................................................................................................................... 33 B. WATER AND SOIL POLLUTION.......................................................................................................... 35 HIP Petrohemija ................................................................................................................................35 NIS Oil Refinery ................................................................................................................................43 HIP Azotara ....................................................................................................................................... 47 C. AIR POLLUTION ................................................................................................................................47 HIP Petrohemija ................................................................................................................................48 NIS Oil Refinery ................................................................................................................................49 HIP Azotara ....................................................................................................................................... 53 CHAPTER 3: BOMBINGS AND CHEMICAL RELEASE AT KRAGUJEVAC .............................. 55 A. POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCB) RELEASE .......................................................................... 55 B. CONTAMINATED AREAS.................................................................................................................... 56 Paint Hall Floor and Power Station.................................................................................................. 56 Wastewater Pit.................................................................................................................................... 57 Waste Storage Area............................................................................................................................ 57 Waterways .......................................................................................................................................... 57 CHAPTER 4: PUBLIC HEALTH AND CLEANUP ISSUES............................................................... 59 A. HIP PETROHEMIJA ........................................................................................................................... 59 1,2-dichloroethane spill ..................................................................................................................... 59 Mercury Spill...................................................................................................................................... 61 Vinyl Chloride Fire ............................................................................................................................ 63 B. NIS OIL REFINERY ........................................................................................................................... 64 Oil Spills ............................................................................................................................................. 64 Oil Fires.............................................................................................................................................. 65 Other Cleanup Issues......................................................................................................................... 66 C. KRAGUJEVAC .................................................................................................................................... 66 3 PCBs................................................................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER 5: LEGAL ISSUES................................................................................................................ 69 A. INTERNATIONAL LAW....................................................................................................................... 69 The Authority for NATO’s use of force............................................................................................. 69 The Laws of War................................................................................................................................73 Analysis of Treaty Terms ................................................................................................................... 74 The Application of Protocol I to the United States ........................................................................... 80 B. TARGETING CRITERIA ...................................................................................................................... 82 CHAPTER 6: MAIN FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS......................................................... 85 MAIN FINDINGS....................................................................................................................................... 85 RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................................................................. 86 APPENDIX ................................................................................................................................................. 89 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 93 List of Tables Table 1: Oil products released as a result of the bombing of the NIS Oil Refinery.............................. 33 Table 2: Summary of pollutants released as a result of the 1999 bombings in Pancevo ...................... 34 Table 3: Groundwater pollution at HIP Petrohemija ............................................................................. 36 Table 4: Groundwater pollution at the NIS Oil Refinery ....................................................................... 43 Table 5: Soil pollution at the NIS Oil Refinery........................................................................................ 44 Table 6: Emission factors and estimated chemical release from the Pancevo oil fires......................... 50 Table 7: Estimated ground-level concentrations of selected pollutants from the NIS Oil Refinery fires ...........................................................................................................................................................