ENVIRONMENT Minister Photis Photiou yesterday joined regional officials in Greece to discuss efforts to avert a potential environmental catastrophe stemming from a massive oil spill off the coast of Lebanon.
The meeting came as Lebanon announced it would next week start mopping up the 10,000-15,000 tonnes of oil that spilled into the Mediterranean when Israeli jets bombed a power plant on Jiyyeh, south of Beirut, last month.
While most of the oil from the spill has been burning, much of it has leaked into the sea, contaminating up to 30km of coastline north of Jiyyeh and threatening the coastlines of Cyprus, as well as Syria, Turkey and Greece.
The spill also threatens a number of marine species, such as the bluefin tuna and sea turtles, including the endangered green turtle.
Despite a ceasefire between Israeli and Hezbollah forces, earlier efforts to contain the spill were slowed by the Israeli air and sea blockade of the country, which slowed the arrival of aid and equipment severely.
“We are starting the clean-up operations as soon as tomorrow but the ceasefire has nothing to do with it… The blockade is still on so we cannot go into the sea yet,” Lebanon Environment Minister Yacoub Sarraf told Reuters.
Sarraf also stated that satellite images of the spill indicated the total cost of cleaning up the spill would be at least $100 million, with an extended embargo making it more and more difficult to contain.
The Lebanese government on July 27 requested assistance in the form of dispersants, booms, absorbents, skimmers, specialised boats as well as other materials and equipment needed for the planned clean-up operation. The Monitoring and Information Centre for Civil Protection (MIC) forwarded the request to participating countries, with the first assistance by the various responsive countries arriving in Lebanon on August 14. A team of experts has, meanwhile, been providing support to Lebanese authorities since August 9, in the form of situation assessment, training and the provision of action plans.
Lebanese officials yesterday met with Cypriot Minister of Agriculture Photis Photious and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in Piraeus, Greece, to co-ordinate follow-up actions to those carried out by the European Commission regarding the oil-spill.
“The recent oil spill off the coast of Lebanon is an environmental disaster,
and may affect the livelihood, health and future prospect of Lebanon and the
surrounding countries. With the help of the Commission’s civil protection
mechanism, Member States have been able to provide co-ordinated assistance,
including experts and specialised materials,” said Stavros Dimas, the EU Commissioner in charge of co-ordination efforts.
The meeting in Piraeus ensured the handover of response operations to the spill to international organisations involved in marine pollution.
