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             This spill began when, on July 13th and 15th Israeli bombers hit the Jiyyeh power station south of Beirut. This caused a fire that raged for over three weeks as well as causing 15000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil to cascade into the Mediterranean Sea. Water currents and winds caused this slick to move northwards along more than 100km of Lebanon’s coast line, effecting rocky shores, sandy beaches, marinas, ports, fishing harbours, tourist resorts all the way up to the Syrian boarder.

 

                     

 

             The damage was immense. It caused large tracks of previously lively Lebanese coastline to become lifeless as wild life and humans alike abandoned the area. Marine ecosystems were destroyed causing the loss of livelihood to fishermen. The slick threatened the blue fin tuna and the giant green sea turtle, both species that are already facing extinction. Palm Island nature reserve, one of only two in the country and a key nesting site for the giant turtle, was badly hit by the slick and saw harrowing scenes of turtle eggs hatching only to see the hatchlings swimming through crude oil to get to the sea.

 

             Bird life did not manage to escape the dangers of the slick. Huge damage was done marine birdlife, as when the oil hit bird’s plumage it removes their waterproof properties and causes the birds to freeze. Any attempt by the bird to groom its plumage back to normal will result in it ingesting oil and poisoning itself. Birds migrating from Northern Europe have to pass through areas covered in the slick, with 156 species affected by the damage to palm island. Palm Island was also one of the last remaining breading areas for the Mediterranean Monk Seal, virtually brought to extinction by heavy fishing activities in the early 1990s.

 

              

 

At the time of the spill a massive international outcry erupted with calls from the UN for assistance and pledges from OPEC and other sources for funds to remediate the spill. Initially, any serious clean up work was hampered by the continuation of hostilities. Despite this, the greenline association were one of the first organisations on the ground, and organised groups of clean up volunteers, as well as beginning the arduous task or conducting assessment studies into what was needed.

 

Post cease fire this work was built upon by the Lebanese army and a number of NGO’s and volunteers which tried their best to do what they could in their small areas, while hugely under funded, undermanned and under resourced. For example, the Ramlet el Bayda beach received an initial clean up but was repolluted as a new oil slick washed up on the 29th of August 2006. This was partly due to a lack of floating “booms”, which, if properly used could have kept the oil out at sea. The Lebanese army also tried to use a skimmer boat to take the oil off of the top of the water, but this kept getting blocked. Added to this, the Lebanese authorities failed to remove the polluted sand that had been cleaned off of the beach to proper off site storage areas (1)

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A year on this is an all too common picture along much of the Lebanese coast line. Violent weather conditions often bring repollution, with under funded and badly coordinated clean up operations leaving polluted sand in unsuitable storage conditions in weak containers on beaches, resulting in some leakage back into the environment and posing a clear public health issue. Funding also seems to be an issue, along with bureaucratic red tape and constant changing of management between central authorities, and different not for profit/NGO bodies taking charge of various operations.

 

This mixed picture continues with the clean up operations having an uncertain future. It has also been muted that Lebanon may take legal action against Israel for the damage, which would seek to set up a $1 billion fund for the clean up of the Eastern Mediterranean. However, one trend seems to remain a constant thread throughout this problem. That is the relegation of environmental issues to the bottom of the pile when political instability ensues. With protesters still in central Beirut and political gridlock still gripping Lebanon, the state of its beautiful beaches, and the welfare of their users, seems like a small oil droplet in a large sea of turmoil.

 

 

Joseph Downing studied at SOAS (London UK) and wrote a masters thesis on Shi'a identity in Lebanon. He now works as a freelance media consultant and is developing a PhD proposal on ethnic identity structures in Lebanon. He can be contacted on 07751231676 or at jodaplaya@excite.com

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1: Information obtained from “Oil Spill Lebanon” at http://www.oilspilllebanon.org/news.shtml

Forgotten Environmental Consequences:

Lebanon’s Oil Spills

By Joseph Downing

 

             The 12th of July marked the beginning of last summer’s war in Lebanon. On this day, Israeli bombs began to drop onto Lebanon’s cities, farms, beaches, bridges, roads and other infrastructure. This bombardment would last for 34 days and claim over 1300 lives and cost billions of dollars of damage to Lebanon’s infrastructure and economy that will take years to put right. It would also leave a legacy of unexploded munitions, internal instability and foreign intervention that would make the lives of Lebanon’s citizens even more unpredictable than before. However, while these issues have taken prime importance in the media and to Lebanese politicians, there remains a less documented, yet equally grave cost Lebanon continues to pay for this war. This is the damage to its environment.

 

Lebanon is famed for its natural environmental beauty, from its white sandy beaches, rich fertile plains and snow capped mountain peaks. As much as the food and culture, the Lebanese love this aspect of their country and are famous for gleefully boasting to all and sundry how blessed they are at having such a beautiful homeland. Many have heard the age old adage that one “can swim in the sea in the morning, and ski in the mountains in the afternoon”. However, as unfortunately happens during times of strife environmental concerns are pushed to the back burner. During the Balkans war horrifying pictures where broadcast around the world of rubbish trucks unloading into crystal clear seas that had previously played host to tourists. Robert Fisk’s gripping chronicle on the Lebanese civil war, Pity the Nation, is replete with tales of such environmental violations, including the story of soldiers pulling branches off Lebanon’s biblical cedars to make tourist trinkets. Unfortunately, last summers war in Lebanon was no different, with the biggest single environmental catastrophe being the coastal oil spill.