Lebanon Oil Spill a Biodiversity Disaster, Cleanup Blocked

ATHENS, Greece, August 8, 2006 (ENS) - Two United Nations experts arrived today in Syria to evaluate the consequences of the oil spill that has contaminated more than 140 kilometers of the Lebanese coastline and has spread north into Syrian waters. Heavy fighting continues to rage in southern Lebanon, blocking access to the polluted area.

The Israeli bombing of the Lebanese power plant at Jiyyeh 30 kilometers south of Beirut on July 13 and 15 is believed to have spilled at least 10,000 and up to 35,000 metric tons of oil into the Eastern Mediterranean. Some fear the oil could spread to Turkey and Cyprus.

Paul Mifsud, coordinator of the Athens based UN Environment Programme' Mediterranean Action Plan, or UNEP-MAP, said Syrian Minister of Local Administration and Environment Helal Al-Atrash confirmed that the oil has spread along the Syrian coastline from the Al-Aridah area to Al-Nauras.

In a letter to UNEP-MAP dated August 4, Al-Atrash asked UNEP-MAP “to send professional companies to control the spilled oil on the shoreline and territorial waters."

This satellite image taken August 3 shows that the slick has spread north and west into the Mediterranean Sea. (Photo courtesy Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information)

Marine species such as the commercially important bluefin tuna are believed to have been affected by the oil spill.

“This oil slick definitely poses a threat to biodiversity," said marine biologist Dr. Ezio Amato of Italy, who arrived in Damascus today to assess the spill.

Dr. Amato is a specialist in the impact of human activities on marine benthic ecosystems, fate and effects of pollutants in these ecosystems.

He is from ICRAM, the Istituto Centrale per la Ricerca scientificae tecnologica Applicata al Mare, an Italian research institute that is part of a group of organizations cooperating to address the spill.

“Because tuna’s eggs and larvae float on the water surface, they can be directly affected by this oil slick, with potential serious consequences for the tuna population in the Mediterranean," Amato said.

The largest of the tunas, bluefin tuna migrate from the Atlantic Ocean to the eastern Mediterranean and form spawning aggregations. The species is already at risk due to overfishing, warned WWF in a July report, saying current levels of fishing are 2.5 times higher than the bluefin tuna populations can sustain.

“Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks risk imminent commercial collapse,” said Roberto Mielgo Bregazzi, CEO of Advanced Tuna Ranching Technologies and author of the WWF report.

“In the race to catch shrinking tuna stocks, industrial fleets are switching from traditional fishing grounds to the last breeding refuges in the eastern Mediterranean,” he said.

At this time of year, critically endangered Mediterranean green turtles nest on a beach in Lebanon, but the coast is coated with oil from the spill.

"I saw many fish and crabs dead by the Ramlet al-Baida beach," environmental activist Iffat Edriss told the "Daily Star," describing the situation as a disaster for the marine ecosystem. Ramlet al-Baida is the only public beach in Beirut.

At this stage the information however remains sketchy and no cleanup action has been possible. Dr. Amato will provide visual documentation and validate through a field assessment what is shown in the satellite imagery and models.

Dead fish covered with oil wash up on Beirut's Ramlet al-Baida beach. (Photo courtesy Assaad Ahmad)

“We are dealing with a very serious incident and any practical steps are still constrained by the continuation of hostilities. We are glad that two of our experts will now be able to provide advice from Damascus, even though much more is needed," said Steiner.

In Damascus, Dr. Amato will join another specialist from the Joint UNEP-OCHA Environment Unit, who is traveling to the region from Geneva to coordinate the emerging efforts on the ground.

“The cleanup operations will require intense cooperation between international actors and the governments of the Mediterranean region," Steiner said.

The International Maritime Organization, IMO, is coordinating the international effort to help Lebanon to respond to the oil spill, following a request for assistance from the Lebanese Environment Minister on July 27.

The IMO is collaborating with the Joint Environment Unit of UNEP and the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and with the European Commission.

The Commission is evaluating and monitoring the scope of the marine pollution on the basis of contacts of experts from the European Commission’s Monitoring and Information Centre, MIC, with the Lebanese Ministry of Environment. Detailed satellite images provided by MIC partners are being analyzed.

“With the help of the MIC, member states will be able to provide co-ordinated assistance, including experts and specialised materials,” said European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, who is in charge of the Monitoring and Information Centre.

MIC has dispatched a team of three Danish coastal and marine pollution experts to assist the Lebanese authorities in the assessment and the cleanup operations.

Norway has donated nine metric tons of equipment through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to remove the oil pollution. Other member states have also informed the MIC of possible assistance to Lebanon through private channels.

The Mediterranean Oil Industry Group, a regional network of industry experts in oil spill response, has also been contacted.

But assistance can only be delivered when hostilities cease.

As far as movement of any possible oil slick at sea is concerned, MAP is obtaining satellite images from several sources. However, says Mifsud, the initial results and the satellite images currently available should only be considered as a preliminary indication of the oil's spread.