Lebanon oil slick 'worst environmental disaster' in Med

[xrtoronto]

See Rule #5, #10

[Nilsen]

That sucks!




Wonder how much oil/fuels etc got spilled in total during ww2

[Bodhi]

Originally posted by xrtoronto
Sat Jul 29, 8:19 AM ET

BEIRUT (AFP) - 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.

c&p

WAHHHHHH...... maybe Lebanon should not support terrorists!

[xrtoronto]

Originally posted by Stagan
I wonder how many Hezbollahs there were inside of those tanks?
They were pretty big tanks so there had to be at least few dozen of them?

If Hezbollah was there, then that means there was alot of civillians there to hide behind too.

[Bodhi]

See Rule #4

[uberhun]

When a soverign nation harbors terrorists, the gloves are off. Radical muslims who preach death to the infidiles and death to the jews, are the same as the Stalins, Hitlers and Pol Pot's of the recent past. They preach hate and create death and mayhem. The bring nothing to the table. Let Israel roll right up to the border of Syria. No one in that region has a pair big enough to take them on let alone an army as well equiped and trained.
Civilian deaths are a sincere tradgedy on both sides. But what do you do talk diplomacy as the rockets rain down on your head. Making the comparison of the WTC as a legitimate target is just wrong, in so many areas. Their many things this country has done in the past and currently that I'am not proud of. But one I'am proud of is the United States Government going over to Afghanistan and kicking some Taliban butt!

[john9001]

are you sure it's not global warming?

[Nilsen]

Originally posted by uberhun
But one I'am proud of is the United States Government going over to Afghanistan and kicking some Taliban butt!

And you should be.

[AWMac]

It's ON!!! Syria knows it as does Iran...

Toll On Israel!!!

Mac

[nirvana]

That's a real shame but i'm glad an oil producing country like Kuwait has resources like that, the thickeners and such.

[Maverick]

Stagan,

Who were you before you got banned?

Or are you the backwards madman coming back with a new name to hide that you couldn't stay away after you stomped out earlier?

[Suave]

"make no distinction between the terrorists and those [states] that harbor them.."

A good idea is a good idea.

[Maverick]

I suppose it would be bad to not let hezbollah have gas / diesel for their vehicles.

Since they also hold a portion of the government positions of Lebanon, does that constitute providing support for a terrorist organization? Seems like it ought to.

Darn you just can't seem to have a war where no one dies and nothing gets blown up / destroyed. What's the world comming to?

[Slash27]

Originally posted by Bodhi
WAHHHHHH...... maybe Lebanon should not support terrorists!

WINNER!!!:aok

[Wolfala]

Originally posted by Stagan
See Rule #5

Who's shade are u again?