LEBANON: Oil spill from a power plant bombed by Israel on July 13 and 15 adds an ecological crisis to Lebanon's agony

Record ID: 343982

  • Title: LEBANON: Oil spill from a power plant bombed by Israel on July 13 and 15 adds an ecological crisis to Lebanon's agony
  • Date: 29th July 2006
  • Summary: LEBANESE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT YACOUB AL-SARRAF WALKING INTO OFFICE LEBANESE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT YACOUB AL-SARRAF WRITING (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEBANESE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT YACOUB AL-SARRAF SAYING: "The spill we are experiencing now is the size of Erika (oil tanker) spill which hit France and Spain a couple of years ago and if you take it into proportions that
  • Embargoed: 13th August 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: War / Fighting,Environment / Natural World
  • Reuters ID: LVA2243TZA9KCI2QEZBCU8C7YAXK
  • Story Text: Along Lebanon's sandy beaches and rocky headlands runs a belt of black sludge -- 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes of oil that spilled into the Mediterranean Sea after Israel bombed a power plant two week ago.
    Lebanon's Environment Ministry said the oil flooded into the sea when Israeli jets hit storage tanks at the Jiyyeh plant south of Beirut on July 13 and 15, creating an ecological crisis that Lebanon's government has neither the money nor the expertise to deal with.
    The rocks on Beirut's beaches are now covered with oil. In the evening, the air is thick with acrid fumes that sting the eyes, and a distinctive smell floats in the air.
    "The spill we are experiencing now is the size of Erika (oil tanker) spill which hit France and Spain a couple of years ago and if you take it into proportions that the Mediterranean sea is a closed sea compared to an open ocean, it goes without saying that the impact of this amount of fuel on a limited perimeter is, by far, ten-fold the impact on the same quantity of spill in open ocean," Environment Minister Yacoub al-Sarraf told Reuters.
    The spill is especially threatening since fish spawn and sea turtles nest on Lebanon's coast, including the green turtle which is endangered in the Mediterranean, local ecologists say.
    Carried by a north-easterly wind, the spill has travelled 70-80 km up the coast of Lebanon, which has been bombarded by Israel for 18 days in a war against Hizbollah.
    An Israeli warship damaged by a Hizbollah missile on July 15 may also have spilled diesel oil into the sea, according to the Environment Ministry website (www.moe.gov.lb).
    Al-Sarraf said Lebanon does not have the resources to deal with the ecological crisis.
    "We definitely have neither the knowledge nor the equipment, nor the material, nor the staff, which is why we have sent an appeal to the United Nations Environmental programme, Mediterranean action plan,'' Al-Sarraf indicated.
    At Beirut's Sporting Club, seven men in navy overalls were using buckets on the end of sticks and pouring it into plastic containers. The team is part of a pilot clean-up commissioned by the Environment Ministry, and another mop-up is underway at the San Antoine Sandy Beach Resort in northern Lebanon.
    Lebanon has also turned to oil producer Kuwait for help. A plane load of equipment is due to arrive from Kuwait via Syria by the end of the week, Sarraf said.
    "We have contacted the State of Kuwait, which really responded very fast," Sarraf said.
    One of the main problems is that an Israeli air and sea blockade has been in place since the war began on July 12 which is hampering both the clean-up and the delivery of equipment.
    The migratory season is over so birds should not be badly affected and some oil may evaporate or decompose, but spills can smother or poison sea life, the Environment Ministry says.
    Even if Lebanon is able to mop up, the marine ecosystem could take years to recover, local environmentalists say.
    Commercial fishing and tourism has been at a standstill since the war began because of the air and sea blockade.
    "No one will swim here. Even the fish and all the animals at sea are dead" said coast guard Abdo Kret, standing on a empty beach.
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