It's a beautiful day in Ash Shuayba...

Welcome back folks. Over here in Kuwait we work at the Ash Shuayba port. It is the biggest port in Kuwait, it has many oil refineries, and chemical plants on it. Sometimes it is affectionately referred to as "Hell" it smells like sulfur on most days, and on others is smells like chlorine. There is some nasty stuff over here, and I have some pictures for you all. One is of the "gates to hell" two burn off towers that never seem to stop burning...The other is of the gates, and another tower that burns off a white cloud. Mind you this is no cloud of steam, it is actually some sort of chemical burn off that is allowed into the air, most of the time it is sulfur or chlorine. The other plant here at the port makes ammonia...yeah...great stuff.

Today we had an alarm that there was an unusually large release of some chemical. I believe it was sulfur, and were advised to remain in our buildings until the could passed. We have been issued gas masks with special industrial filters. Although some who have been through CBRD training have said, that if it comes to using that...we're pretty much screwed. Nice to know. Anyhow folks this is where we work everyday.

Another side to the port other than the chemical plants and oil refineries, is the dirt. Kuwait has dirt imported to their country because they are unable to use their own to make concrete. This along with the chemicals makes for a nice oxygen cocktail. Most of the times I feel like I am walking around in a cloud of Tear gas, which makes my eyes water and my throat very itchy.... can't wait for the exit physical from this trip :)

Not every day is filled with sulfur and dust, and most of the time the air flow takes all the clouds out over the Persian Gulf. My sarcasm might make it seem worse than it really is, but I tell you one thing, after I leave here and get back to the states, you will never hear me complain about EPA regulations on air quality. Yep folks its that bad...

The White Cloud... and it ain't steam folks :D

The Gates to hell.... you should see this at night

This is a dirt ship, look for the brownish colored cloud

Hopefully this post doesn't land me in any trouble, I am not releasing any information that isn't already publicly known, and i have no pictures of any thing that would be considered OPSEC. What's the worst they could do... send me home.... HA! Anyhow, I am doing well staying as safe as I can. Email me some time folks it3wildes@yahoo.com

Take care
John