Israeli Bombs Cause Worst Oil Slick in Mediterranean Ever!!!

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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.