Lebanon oil spill crisis

Ahnimus · August 2006

I'm not sure if anyone reported on this. Al-Jazeera seems to be the only news source that mentioned it on July 29. It's just another sick reality of war.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/87455845-BD62-4D4B-9F16-559AF4BCFD27.htm

Lebanon oil spill crisis

Saturday 29 July 2006, 0:43 Makka Time, 21:43 GMT

The Lebanese government has appealed for help to clean up a huge oil spill along its coastline created after Israel bombed a power plant.

The environment ministry says up to 30,000 tonnes of oil flooded into the sea after Israeli jets attacked storage tanks at the Jiyyeh power plant south of Beirut on July 13 and 15.

The spill has affected more than 100 kilometres of the Lebanese coast.

Yacoub al-Sarraf, the Lebanese environment minister, said: "We have never seen a spill like this in the history of Lebanon. It is a major catastrophe.

"The equipment we have is for minor spills. We use it once in a blue moon to clean a small spill of 50 tonnes or so. To clean this whole thing up we would need an armada."

The EU commission said the Lebanese authorities had asked for "urgent" assistance to clean up the oil.

Stavros Dimas, the EU environment commissioner, said: "Wars do cause enormous human suffering as we are witnessing now in Lebanon. But another aspect is also the significant environmental destruction caused by it.

"[The spill] could affect the livelihood and health of the Lebanese and people in neighbouring countries as well as the status of the marine environment in the region."

The government has also asked the UN environmental protection agency to assist in the clean-up operation.

Al-Sarraf said the cost of removing the oil could reach $40-50million.

Equipment

An Israeli warship damaged by a Hezbollah missile on July 15 may also have spilled oil into the sea, according to the environment ministry.

One of the main problems is that an Israeli air and sea blockade of Lebanon, in place since the war began on July 12, is hampering both the clean-up and the delivery of equipment.

Sarraf said: "To really clean it up we need access to the sea, which we don't have.

"We need more equipment and mobilisation but for that we need the hostilities to end."

Local environmentalists say the marine ecosystem could take years to recover.

shiraz · August 2006

Ahnimus wrote:

I'm not sure if anyone reported on this. Al-Jazeera seems to be the only news source that mentioned it on July 29. It's just another sick reality of war.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/87455845-BD62-4D4B-9F16-559AF4BCFD27.htm

Lebanon oil spill crisis

Saturday 29 July 2006, 0:43 Makka Time, 21:43 GMT

The Lebanese government has appealed for help to clean up a huge oil spill along its coastline created after Israel bombed a power plant.

The environment ministry says up to 30,000 tonnes of oil flooded into the sea after Israeli jets attacked storage tanks at the Jiyyeh power plant south of Beirut on July 13 and 15.

The spill has affected more than 100 kilometres of the Lebanese coast.

Yacoub al-Sarraf, the Lebanese environment minister, said: "We have never seen a spill like this in the history of Lebanon. It is a major catastrophe.

"The equipment we have is for minor spills. We use it once in a blue moon to clean a small spill of 50 tonnes or so. To clean this whole thing up we would need an armada."

The EU commission said the Lebanese authorities had asked for "urgent" assistance to clean up the oil.

Stavros Dimas, the EU environment commissioner, said: "Wars do cause enormous human suffering as we are witnessing now in Lebanon. But another aspect is also the significant environmental destruction caused by it.

"[The spill] could affect the livelihood and health of the Lebanese and people in neighbouring countries as well as the status of the marine environment in the region."

The government has also asked the UN environmental protection agency to assist in the clean-up operation.

Al-Sarraf said the cost of removing the oil could reach $40-50million.

Equipment

An Israeli warship damaged by a Hezbollah missile on July 15 may also have spilled oil into the sea, according to the environment ministry.

One of the main problems is that an Israeli air and sea blockade of Lebanon, in place since the war began on July 12, is hampering both the clean-up and the delivery of equipment.

Sarraf said: "To really clean it up we need access to the sea, which we don't have.

"We need more equipment and mobilisation but for that we need the hostilities to end."

Local environmentalists say the marine ecosystem could take years to recover.

It was all over the news a few days ago, Israel local media included (actually, it was the top story in most of our newspapers & TV channels). I think someone has already posted a thread on that specific topic. And yes, it is sick. Lebanon shores have some rare and even unique sea-turtles, harming their habitat may lead to its extinction. It should take about 6-12 months to clean it up, but it is impossible to do anything as long as the war is still on ):

Puck78 · August 2006

shiraz wrote:

It was all over the news a few days ago, Israel local media included (actually, it was the top story in most of our newspapers & TV channels). I think someone has already posted a thread on that specific topic. And yes, it is sick. Lebanon shores have some rare and even unique sea-turtles, harming their habitat may lead to its extinction. It should take about 6-12 months to clean it up, but it is impossible to do anything as long as the war is still on ):

Yes, Lebanon has some nesting beaches for the Mediterranean Green Turtles. Few others are just in Turkey. They are not only directly affected by the oil, but also idirectly through the devastation of the beach where they go nesting and of the posidonia oceanica, the alga where they go to search for food. even more now we're in the middle of the nesting season and the first hatchlings should come out at the middle of August.

ConX · August 2006

Good one, Israel.

enharmonic · August 2006

I'll add this one to the list of reasons why Israel should be turned into a parking lot.

robbie · August 2006

when israel and the united states brag about hoe pinpoint accurate their weapons are, we can only assume that this was intentional. everything these missiles hit is intentional, how can you call any death a casualty of war or collateral damage when your weapons are so precise? i remember the u.s. bragging when the iraq war started about how their missile hit a man standing under a bridge and the weapon was fired from some insane distance off of a war ship. so it is obvious that if we are that spot on, that every innocent victim of our bombs were murdered. and for israel to fuck up that shoreline was intentional. how could anyone argue differently?

Ahnimus · August 2006

robbie wrote:

when israel and the united states brag about hoe pinpoint accurate their weapons are, we can only assume that this was intentional. everything these missiles hit is intentional, how can you call any death a casualty of war or collateral damage when your weapons are so precise? i remember the u.s. bragging when the iraq war started about how their missile hit a man standing under a bridge and the weapon was fired from some insane distance off of a war ship. so it is obvious that if we are that spot on, that every innocent victim of our bombs were murdered. and for israel to fuck up that shoreline was intentional. how could anyone argue differently?

I can't, however this is going to affect Israel aswell, not as much mind you. Why do they do things that hurt themselves? I can't understand these governments.

FinsburyParkCarrots · August 2006

ConX wrote:

Good one, Israel.

Cheney won't like this, will he, when there's a potential oil shortage? "But I told you morons, destabilise as much of the Middle East for us, as you like, as long as you don't touch the fakking oil!"

miller8966 · August 2006

enharmonic wrote:

I'll add this one to the list of reasons why Israel should be turned into a parking lot.

lol theirs a better chance of chirst coming back than israel being turned into a parking lot...its looks like southern lebanon is turning into a construction zone....wooo

Layla Vedder · August 2006

miller8966 wrote:

lol theirs a better chance of chirst coming back than israel being turned into a parking lot...its looks like southern lebanon is turning into a construction zone....wooo

in the face of anyone making a comment like that.

Ahnimus · August 2006

miller8966 wrote:

lol theirs a better chance of chirst coming back than israel being turned into a parking lot...its looks like southern lebanon is turning into a construction zone....wooo

You are a sick individual, I'm sorry, I don't like personal attacks, but fuck man. How can you cheer on the destruction of Lebanon?

shiraz · August 2006

ConX wrote:

Good one, Israel.

Good one, Hizbullah.

shiraz · August 2006

Ahnimus wrote:

I can't, however this is going to affect Israel aswell, not as much mind you. Why do they do things that hurt themselves? I can't understand these governments.

I can't understand Hizbullah, nor the int govts who didn't help Lebanese govt to get rid of Hizbullah after 2000. Why do they do things that will hurt everyone? I can't understand these governments... Oh wait, I think I can: "not our problem, we don't really care, where is our interest?"

Ahnimus · August 2006

shiraz wrote:

Good one, Hizbullah.

They are behind everything eh?
If you stub your toe it's Hizbullah's fault?

shiraz · August 2006

Ahnimus wrote:

They are behind everything eh?
If you stub your toe it's Hizbullah's fault?

Yes, Its their fault as well. Northern Israel & Lebanon were blossomimg before Hizbullah decided to push it further than they already did in the past (2003). I'm sick of all the ignoring - Hizbullah is the main reason why everyone in Lebanon & Israel is having a summer from hell.

Ahnimus · August 2006

shiraz wrote:

Yes, Its their fault as well. Northern Israel & Lebanon were blossomimg before Hizbullah decided to push it further than they already did in the past (2003). I'm sick of all the ignoring - Hizbullah is the main reason why everyone in Lebanon & Israel is having a summer from hell.

I get it, I just think maybe it's too easy to blame them for everything.

ConX · August 2006

shiraz wrote:

Good one, Hizbullah.

It was Israel who caused the oil slick.....

shiraz · August 2006

ConX wrote:

It was Israel who caused the oil slick.....

1. Read the article, it pointed one of the reasons for the oil slick is Hizbullah's attack over an Israeli ship. And yes, we also caused this situation.

2. If Hizbullah hadn't pushed things to the limit, this corrent war wouldn't had happened. Northern Israel and Lebanon were doing GREAT during the last 6 years, none of us had any interest to ruin this.

3. I also blame the rest of the world, for not wanted to litsen both Lebanon (during the time of Hariri) & Israel warnings about the Hizbullah's actions since the year of 2000.

Puck78 · August 2006

shiraz wrote:

3. I also blame the rest of the world, for not wanted to litsen both Lebanon (during the time of Hariri) & Israel warnings about the Hizbullah's actions since the year of 2000.

It might sound rethoric, but I blame the rest of the world for keep on doing nothing. So far we had
1. the crisis starting during the G8
2. 2 visits of Condolleezza Rice
3. 1 visit of the Italian foreign minister
4. I've lost the tracks of other visits
5. one big meeting in Rome
None of them gave the minimum result. US and UK voted also AGAINST the immediate ceasefire. Looking at the number of victims in both the sides, it wouldn't be bad to have a complete ceasefire and then start serious diplomatic talks to fix the situation in the region. So, or they're really incapable, or they are not willing. I would discard both the scenarios: if they were really not willing, they wouldn't have made all those visits neither. The third scenario is that there must be some secret talks and secret plans behing. It sounds like a cospiracy theory, but I don't see any other reasonable scenario behind.

shiraz · August 2006

Puck78 wrote:

It might sound rethoric, but I blame the rest of the world for keep on doing nothing. So far we had
1. the crisis starting during the G8
2. 2 visits of Condolleezza Rice
3. 1 visit of the Italian foreign minister
4. I've lost the tracks of other visits
5. one big meeting in Rome
None of them gave the minimum result. US and UK voted also AGAINST the immediate ceasefire. Looking at the number of victims in both the sides, it wouldn't be bad to have a complete ceasefire and then start serious diplomatic talks to fix the situation in the region. So, or they're really incapable, or they are not willing. I would discard both the scenarios: if they were really not willing, they wouldn't have made all those visits neither. The third scenario is that there must be some secret talks and secret plans behing. It sounds like a cospiracy theory, but I don't see any other reasonable scenario behind.

You are so naive (:

If they were really not willing, they wouldn't have made all those visits neither? No no no, they would, cause that way no one can blame them for not "trying".

Secret talks? maybe. I personally think Israel will "clean" most of southern Lebanon from Hizbullah people within the next 2 weeks, so int armed forces (well trained, and hopefully from ONE state - France) could get in and keep the border for the sake of everyone.

Puck78 · August 2006

shiraz wrote:

1. Read the article, it pointed one of the reasons for the oil slick is Hizbullah's attack over an Israeli ship. And yes, we also caused this situation.

indeed there's two oil spills, one from the Jiyyeh power plant south of Beirut, bombed by Israel on July 13 and 15. A second one from a Israeli warship damaged by a Hezbollah missile on July 15.

Lebanon oil spill crisis

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