Source >
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/29/060729110246.0h0g1zoy.html
Lebanon oil slick 'worst environmental disaster' in
Med
Jul 29 7:03 AM US/Eastern
The Mediterranean is threatened by its worst ever
environmental disaster after Israel's bombing of a
power plant in Lebanon sent thousands of tonnes of
fuel gushing into the sea, the environment minister
charged.
"Up until now 10,000-15,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil
have spilled out into the sea," after Israel's bombing
of the power station in Jiyeh two weeks ago, Lebanese
Environment Minister Yacub Sarraf told AFP Saturday.
"It's without doubt the biggest environmental
catastrophe that the Mediterranean has known and it
risks having terrible consequences not only for our
country but for all the countries of the eastern
Mediterranean."
Israeli forces bombed the tanks at the power station
on July 14 and July 15, just days into their offensive
on Lebanon which has seen blistering air strikes
across the country and a bloody ground incursion in
the south.
The leak from one of the tanks, which are located just
25 metres (80 feet) from the sea, has now stopped but
another containing 25,000 tonnes of fuel oil is still
on fire and is in danger of exploding. Between
8,000-10,000 tonnes of fuel are on the shore and 5,000
on the open water.
"Until now, the worst ecological disasters have taken
place in the oceans and it's the first time that an
oil spill has happened outside the open sea," said
Sarraf. "We can have no illusions."
Sarraf said that the cost of cleaning up Lebanon's
once golden beaches -- which until the bombardment
were major attractions for locals and tourists -- will
cost between 45-50 million dollars and would not be
finished until next summer.
The spill is now affecting 70 kilometres (40 miles) of
Lebanon's 220-kilometre-long (140 miles) coast, a
third of its coastline. Beaches and rocks are covered
in a black sludge which has reached the famous tourist
town of Byblos, north of Beirut.
"If nothing is done, not only will currents flowing
towards the north mean that one third of Lebanon's
coastline be hit, but also Cyprus, Syria, Turkey,
Greece and even Israel," Sarraf said.
"The fauna and the Mediterranean ecosystem risk
suffering badly and certain species are threatened
with extinction," he warned.
Sarraf said that owing to the Israeli blockade of
Lebanon's waters, it was impossible to send ships to
clear up the pollution.
"I have appealed to Britain, Italy, Spain, the United
States, all the countries which have already suffered
oil slicks to ask for technical assistance as we
cannot act on our own," he said.
Kuwait has sent 40 tonnes of material that would allow
the petrol to thicken and also special carpets which
absorb petroleum products.
A resident of Byblos, known worldwide for its seafood
restaurants and historic harbour, said "for the last
four days, fish, crustaceans and crabs have been
coming in black, and they are dying as victims of this
oil slick."
Fuad Hamdan, director of Friends of the Earth, Europe,
and founder of Greenpeace Lebanon, agreed that "it is
certainly the worst environmental disaster ever on the
eastern Mediterranean coast."
Hamdan said the eastern Mediterranean coast from the
Israeli port of Haifa until Syria's Lattakiya was
already heavily polluted from Israeli industry,
Lebanese sewage and industry from east Beirut and from
Syria.
He advised people against eating fish from coastal
areas. "Anyway it will smell bad and put people off."
Besides the oil slick, the fire from the oil tanks has
caused atmospheric pollution which has already reached
Beirut. "Now the toxic cloud is stretching over a 30
kilometre distance," said Sarraf.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
contact owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mail list: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Delivered-To: mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED]
List-Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
no flaming arguing or denigration of others allowed
contact owner with complaints regarding posting/list
or anything else. Thank you.
please share/comment/inform and mostly enjoy this list
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quick_vegetarian/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
