Lebanon to seek Israel compensation over oil slick
by Salim Yassin :: Mon Sep 11, 12:22 PM ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanon is planning legal action againstIsrael for an oil slick caused by its bombing of a power station that has polluted large areas of the Lebanese coast, a minister has told AFP.Lebanese Environment Minister Yacoub Sarraf said his government would seek damages under a statute of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The legal clause states that “an intentional attack with the certainty that this attack will create widespread environmental damage in the long-run can constitute a war crime”.
The Israeli military bombed Lebanon’s southern Jiyeh power plant in mid-July during its 34-day offensive against Hezbollah militants, unleashing thousands of tonnes of fuel oil into the Mediterranean Sea.
“The bombardment caused a lot of long-term damage because layers of oil settled on the sea bed” or drifted below the surface, Sarraf said in an interview.
“There are four to five sites of underwater layers which, if they are not treated, are likely to reappear and recontaminate the coast for years to come,” said the Lebanese environment minister.
“The oil slick has affected the ecosystem of the Mediterranean, with Lebanese waters being a passage for migrating schools of fish, particularly tuna,” he added.
Sarraf said compensation would be requested from Israel on the basis of a decision taken at an international donors conference in Stockholm on August 31 that the Jewish state would be asked to compensate for the damage caused by the Jiyeh bombing.
He estimated the cost of the cleaning operation alone at some 100 million dollars. Only 400 of the 15,000 tonnes of spilt fuel oil has so far been recovered, according Lebanon’s environment ministry.
Sarraf added that the damage was made more serious due to delays caused by the Israel-Hezbollah conflict and the continuation of Israel’s sea blockade, which remained in place for three weeks after an August 14 ceasefire.
This led to wider pollution as the layers of oil spread out over 150 kilometres (93 miles), reaching the Syrian coast, said the Lebanese minister.
In total, about 30 sites were affected by the oil spill, with the most serious damage caused to sandy beaches and the many coves between Beirut and the historic town of Byblos, about 45 kilometres north of the capital, according to experts.
“The priority after the first urgent work is to isolate fuel oil in the coves and to pump it in order to prevent it from rising and polluting again,” said Sarraf.
The minister said teams of workers had succeeded in cleaning the sea bed near the Jiyeh power station, which could become operational again within a week.
Twenty foreign experts have been assisting Lebanon’s environment department, among them members of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
AFP/File Photo: Lebanese volunteers fix floating booms at a Beirut beach to prevent an oil spill from reaching the shore on September 2. Environment Minister Yacoub Sarraf has told AFP that Lebanon is planning legal action against Israel for an oil slick caused by its bombing of a power station that has polluted large areas of the Lebanese coast.(AFP/File/Anwar Amro)
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