GREECE / LEBANON: U.N. agencies call for 50 million euros ($64 million) to mop up an oil spill from an airstrike during Israel's offensive in Lebanon

Record ID: 343886

  • Title: GREECE / LEBANON: U.N. agencies call for 50 million euros ($64 million) to mop up an oil spill from an airstrike during Israel's offensive in Lebanon
  • Date: 18th August 2006
  • Summary: (BN14) ATHENS, GREECE (AUGUST 17, 2006) (REUTERS) **EDITORS PLEASE NOTE VISION AND AUDIO AS INCOMING** NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SECRETARY GENERAL OF INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANISATION, EFTHIMIOS PETROPOULOS, SAYING: "We received a number of very useful reports on what has been done, what is being done, and what can be done to that effect. We also agreed on h
  • Embargoed: 2nd September 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: War / Fighting,General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9VWPSSPWP22JV4QT9PPHS1F9T
  • Story Text: U.N. agencies on Thursday (August 17) called for 50 million euros ($64 million) to mop up an oil spill from an airstrike during Israel's offensive in Lebanon, before the slick spreads further along the eastern Mediterranean coastline.
    Although a truce that began on Monday (August 14) has given relief from fighting between Israel and Hizbollah that had hindered clean up efforts, a Lebanese minister said an ongoing Israeli sea and air blockade was limiting access.
    Between 10,000-15,000 tonnes of oil spilled into the Mediterranean Sea when Israeli jets hit storage tanks at the Jiyyeh power plant south of Beirut on July 13 and 15.
    Local Lebanese environmentalists have begun cleaning up pollution along the shore.
    Volunteers from GreenLine, a local conservation group, arrived at Ramlet al-Baida shore in Beirut on Thursday with their mops, buckets and overalls.
    The Lebanese Navy Group were on hand to give advice on the best way to cleanup the area without removing large quantities of sand.
    U.N. agencies meeting in Athens said hostilities had stopped them assessing the damage, a key step in dealing with the spill of mostly hard to clean up heavy fuel, spreading along 140 km (87 miles) of shore and threatening sensitive marine life.
    "Access to the area has been impossible, in terms of aerial surveys, first hand observations including taking water samples. And in that sense it remains an emergency because depending on the nature, the size and the movement of this oil slick it may not only be Lebanon and the southern coast of Syria that is affected it may still affect others, it may spread further," said the Executive Director of the U.N. Environment Programme, Achim Steiner.
    Monday's ceasefire has made it possible to send in some help. Israel agreed to allow international experts and clean up crews access from the shore, although Lebanon's environment minister Yacoub Al Sarraf said it was still not allowing helicopters or other aircraft to assess the damage.
    "Until now the embargo has not totally been lifted and the Lebanese airspace and territorial waters are still being sealed. So it is good that this interim period we are starting to have total free movement on the land side," said Al Sarraf at a news conference after the meeting.
    U.N. agencies such as the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the Environment Programme (UNEP) warned the spill, which has been left largely unchecked for about a month, was a threat to the wider region and the cost of recovery was rising.
    Officials said some local groups had already started to clean up beaches but a larger effort was needed to prevent the spill from reaching marinas and beaches in Cyprus and Turkey.
    It is believed about 80 percent of the oil is on the coastline, 20 percent has evaporated and less than one percent is at sea.
    A U.N. action plan envisions about 300 people working at 30 cleaning sites, disposing of waste either by burning it in refineries or possibly using some in public works such as road construction.
    Officials said no timetable had been agreed for the action plan because it hinged on securing funding from governments, companies and organisations.
    The spill threatens marine species such as Bluefin tuna and sea turtles, including the green turtle which is endangered in the Mediterranean. UNEP said it also had humanitarian and economic implications, by robbing fishermen of their livelihoods and discouraging tourism.
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