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LEBANESE OIL SLICK

08.01.06 (11:16 am) [edit]

August 1, 2006

UN Warns of Environmental Disaster

While the war rages on, a huge environmental disaster is threatening Lebanon's coast. Up to 35,000 tons of oil have spilled into the Mediterranean following Israeli air strikes -- now it is a race against time to prevent long-term damage and the destruction of a fragile ecosystem.

The Lebanese government is calling it the biggest ecological catastrophe in the country's history. Between July 13 and 15, Israeli jets bombed the Jiyyeh power station, located 30 kilometers south of Beirut, and caused up to 35,000 tons of fuel oil to gush into the sea. The oil slick has now spread along 80 kilometers of Lebanon's 225 kilometer coastline and has already reached Syria. A clean up operation is badly needed, but continuing hostilities between the Israeli army and Hezbollah have made this virtually impossible. Now, the catastrophe is threatening to damage the environment across many parts of the Mediterranean.

The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) is warning of long-term damage if the oil is not cleaned up as quickly as possible. "Every day that passes will increase the potential damage of this tragic incident," UNEP director Achim Steiner told Reuters.

According to the Lebanese Environment Ministry, the worst may be yet to come. Another tank at the same power plant with around 25,000 tons of fuel is still burning and there is a risk that it could leak or explode. The fire has created a thick cloud of black smoke that has polluted the air over Beirut and its suburbs.

posted by: thoolou (reply)
post date: 08.01.06 (10:03 am)

"10,000-15,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil . . . "It's without doubt the biggest environmental catastrophe that the Mediterranean has known..."

One thing the modern press has brought us is exaggeration, the most exaggeration of less-than-remarkable facts the world has ever known.

Figure about 7 bbl of oil per DWT. That's by no means close to the world's record.

Check out the Exxon Valdez, the Amoco Cadiz, and the Torrey Canyon for a few (of many examples) of tankers that dumped far more oil (in the neighborhood of 100,000-150,000 DWT).

Then check out the 1979 Ixtoc disaster where the Mexicans let an exploratory well get away from them -- and it dumped an estimated 1,000,000 DWT of oil in the Gulf.

Finally, recall that another estimated 1,000,000 DWT of crude was intentionally spilled by Saddam in the Persian Gulf during 1991 Desert Storm.

Mother nature cleaned all these messes up the same way she deals with the thousands of barrels of crude that leak into the seas from natural oil seeps -- microbes living in the ocean had a grand feast (crude oil is naturally an excellent, albeit expensive, fertilizer).

Bottom line, you can assign as much credibility to this article as you can with most of the other drivel you get from MSM.

posted by: mambo (reply)
post date: 08.03.06 (12:43 pm)

Oh well, I feel much better now. I have no love of the MSM but, this article is about the Mediterranean "It's without doubt the biggest environmental catastrophe that the Mediterranean has known..."

It's not about the other areas you have mentioned.