Lebanon Oil Spill May Rival Exxon Valdez of 1989
Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) — Lebanon’s oil spill, caused by Israeli bombardment of oil storage units at a power plant, may rival the leakage from the Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989 if left untreated, the United Nations Environment Program said.“In the worst case scenario, and if all the oil contained in the bombed power plant at Jiyyeh leaked into the Mediterranean Sea, the Lebanese oil spill could well rival the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989,” the UN said in an e-mailed statement today.
The spill has yet to be cleaned up or assessed more than three weeks after the bombing of the coastal Jiyyeh power plant south of Beirut because of the continuation of hostilities, Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Program, said in the statement.
The spill, which has polluted around two-thirds of the Lebanese coast and spread into neighboring Syria, may threaten East Mediterranean countries such as Cyprus and Turkey, Lebanon’s Environment Minister Yacoub Sarraf has said.
About 10,000 tonnes (about 3.1 million gallons) of oil has escaped from the Jiyyeh power plant and 35,000 tonnes (10.8 million gallons) in total may be spilt, the UN’s shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization has said.
The Exxon Valdez, which struck the Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound in Alaska, spilled more than 11 million gallons of crude oil, making it the largest spill in U.S. history.
“The quantity of oil spilled in Lebanon is already comparable to the disaster caused in 1999 off the coast of France when the Erika tanker spilled an estimated 13,000 metric tonnes (about 4 million gallons) of oil into the Atlantic Ocean,” the UN Environment Program said.
Marine Life Affected
Marine life, such as sea turtles and Bluefin tuna, has been affected by the Lebanese spill because the Eastern Mediterranean is a spawning ground for the tuna, the program said.
The Israeli navy has maintained a sea blockade for more than three weeks, preventing ships from entering or leaving Lebanese ports without its prior approval.
Israel has bombed airports, ports, bridges, roads and other facilities in Lebanon, inflicting losses estimated at more than $4 billion, according to the Lebanese government.
Israeli jets, which attacked the power plant twice, deterred firemen from putting out the fire at the storage units, which continued for 10 days, Sarraf said in an interview on Aug. 3.
The Israel navy also prohibited Lebanese and foreign officials from surveying the damage of the spill from Lebanon’s territorial waters, the minister said. The spill has grown into a 3,000-square kilometer area because it absorbed water, Sarraf said.
The Lebanese government is relying on the international community to provide as much as $200 million to clean up Lebanon’s territorial waters, the minister said.
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