[NYTr] Israel's Oil Mess Threatens Marine Life for Years to Come
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The Daily Star - 23 August 2006
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=74946
Foul slick settles into seabed off Jiyye;
Environmental disaster threatens marine life for years to come
By Raed El Rafei
BEIRUT: Greenpeace Lebanon revealed on Tuesday exclusive underwater footage
showing large amounts of oil polluting the seabed off the coast of Jiyye
where Israel targeted a power plant, causing the most severe oil spill in
the history of the Eastern Mediterranean. "The scene is horrific; the seabed
is completely covered with fuel oil which will threaten marine life for many
years to come if it is not contained and removed immediately," said
Greenpeace activist and head of the Lebanese Union of Professional Divers
Mohammad al-Sarji, who recently conducted several dives in Jiyye.
"The oil slick covers an area stretching for at least 100 meters to the West
and up to dozens of meters to the north and south," said Zeina al-Hajj,
Greenpeace coordinator in Lebanon.
"The oil is extensive and very toxic and we need to find a way to save the
marine environment," said Dr. Rick Steiner, an oil-spill expert who has been
advising the government and NGOs on the current crisis.
"If the sub-sea contamination is dealt with, it would be probably the first
time worldwide to clean a seabed oil spill," Steiner told The Daily Star,
adding the oil on the seabed is so thick it could be physically picked up by
divers.
Clean-up could take between six months and a year depending on how quickly
an assessment is done and cleanup begins in earnest, according to Hajj.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) estimates that between 10,000
and 15,000 tons of fuel oil leaked from the electric power plant bombed by
Israel six weeks ago.
Steiner said the environment minister approved on Tuesday morning a clean-up
plan that he had presented.
The plan includes a rapid shoreline response where at least four teams
composed of 30 workers each remove the contaminated sand at Ramlet al-Baida
and Jbeil, in addition to removing oil from small harbors used by local
fishermen in and around Beirut.
The mid- and long-term responses include cleaning rocky shorelines using
high-pressure hot water as well as continue cleaning sandy beaches and
dealing with seabed pollution.
The plan also includes an environmental damage assessment. As for the aerial
survey of the offshore oil pollution, Steiner said it would hopefully be
carried out Wednesday after Israel has given permission for helicopters to
fly over the sea to complete this mission.
Last week the UN, Mediterranean environment ministers and experts met in
Athens, Greece, where they agreed to a $64 million action plan to deal with
the oil pollution.
Aerial surveys were given top priority to discover the amount of oil
remaining at sea, as this will impact on the precise next steps for the
clean-up operation.
European and Lebanese teams working in Jbeil have already recovered about
100 tons of oil. Environmental NGOs like Greenpeace will resume clean-up
operations starting Wednesday after they got the approval from the
Environment Ministry. Last week, a group of environmental activists were
prevented from cleaning up the Lebanese shore because they didn't have
official approval.
-With agencies.
*
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