Lebanon's coast is drowning in oil (Dialup alert!)

[n2doc]

Lebanon's Coast Is Drowning in Oil
A spill caused by an Israeli airstrike has blackened popular beaches and threatens the economy and delicate ecosystems.
By Borzou Daragahi, Times Staff Writer
September 4, 2006

BEIRUT — The azure waters of the Mediterranean have long been a symbol of Lebanon's fun-loving character and proud maritime history. But the country's prized 135-mile coast has become its biggest environmental disaster.

French Navy experts walk along a beach in Beirut as they prepare to clear an oil spill caused by Israeli bombardment. Some 110,000 barrels of oil began pouring into the Mediterranean after Israeli warplanes on July 14 hit a coastal power plant at Jiyeh, 12 miles south of Beirut.
(AP)

A Lebanese woman inspects the heavy fuel oil pollution at Ramlet el-Baida beach (White Beach) in Beirut.
(NABIL MOUNZER, xx)

A crab covered with oil is seen on the coast near the seaport of Tabarja, northern Beirut.
(AP)

A stray cat is covered in oil at Dalia Bay in Beirut.
(Wally Skalij / LAT)

Trash and oil fill a harbor on Dalia Bay in Beirut.
(Wally Skalij / LAT)

A Lebanese fisherman struggles to get his boat out of a harbor covered with a thick layer of an oil spill in Beirut.
(AFP / Getty Images)
Aug 25, 2006


Thick gobs of oil have clogged the coast's coral reefs. Sandy beaches have become black-stained no-go zones. Rocky fishermen's coves have become dark soups of crude. All are the result of Israeli airstrikes on seaside oil tanks in the first days of the war against Hezbollah. Between 3 1/2 and 5 million gallons of oil have fouled more than half of the Lebanese coast, and the damage grows each day that the fractured central government fails to begin the cleanup. Scientists have compared it to the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker, which ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, dumping 11 million gallons of oil. The environmental group Greenpeace has sounded the alarm. "The scene is horrific," the group's Mediterranean division said in an Aug. 22 announcement after it played a videotape to reporters showing the underwater consequences of the spill. "The seabed is completely covered with fuel oil, which will threaten marine life for many years to come if it is not contained and removed immediately."

Marine scientists worry that the oil will disintegrate into delicate underwater ecosystems. Many fear that the spill will further damage the tourism-dependent Lebanese economy. The country is deeply in debt, and its infrastructure is in need of massive reconstruction. "The damage will be more severe the longer wait," Tourism Minister Joseph Sarkis said. "More than half of all tourist activity is on the seashore. We have a lot of hotels, beaches and seafood restaurants along the coast, and all are closed." The spill has destroyed the livelihoods of many fishermen. Mostafa Azmar, 43, along with three partners, used to catch between 100 and 1,500 pounds of fish a day. Now his boat is moored in a cove filled with crude oil that burns the nostrils. The fisherman looked with dismay at his stained fishing boat and damaged nets. "The sea is everything to us," he said. "Lebanon wouldn't be Lebanon without the sea, and the sea wouldn't be the sea without Lebanon."

So far, much of the cleanup has been left to dozens of young Lebanese environmental activists using shovels. "We're going to start with very basic equipment," said Nina Jamal, a member of the Lebanese environmental group Green Line. "We're going to remove the sand and block the oil slicks with booms floated out to sea. We'll clean the sandy beaches before the more complicated task of cleaning up the rocky beaches." But the volunteers' modest efforts have been hampered by red tape. The Environment Ministry said it wanted to find a place to store or process the spill's toxic leftovers before proceeding with a full-scale cleanup. Three weeks after a cease-fire, an environmental assessment has yet to be undertaken.

The spill was caused by an Israeli airstrike on oil storage tanks in the coastal city of Jiye, just north of Sidon. Over the weeks, the oil spread north along the Lebanese coast, hitting Beirut, the Christian town of Jounieh and the Sunni Arab city of Tripoli. The spill has not affected beaches along the southern parts of Lebanon controlled by Hezbollah. But it has struck hard at the morale of the Lebanese, who pride themselves on being descendants of the ancient Phoenicians. "We are open to the world through the sea," Sarkis said. "We are like a bridge to the Arab and Muslim countries. For us, the sea is very important."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-lebsea4sep04,0,7780748.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[stepnw1f]

1. What a Tragedy

Soon the middle east will be pock-marked with craters, looking more like the moon than part of the Earth.

[MADem]

2. That stuff is a HORROR to try to clean up

They need booms, pumps and skimmers, big time. Lots of them. And they need those disgusting diapers to sop up that crap. They need dishwashing liquid, the kind that gets 'grease out of your way' to try to save the animals. It's a shame an international effort couldn't be put forth, NOW. The longer you wait, the harder it is to mitigate this problem.

If you've ever been anywhere where there has been a large spill of this nature, especially the heavy oil, you find that it sinks to the bottom, and then gets stirred up, and it forms into these globs, like mozzarella balls, only black and thick and disgusting. Then, comes a storm, and you see them all over the beach, years and years after the spill itself.

I've seen small spills, medium ones, and medium-large; but nothing on the lines of this. This is probably WORSE than Valdiz in one fashion, even though it isn't as large a spill, because it impacts the livelihoods of so many people.

This is not going to be a quickie fix scenario...it will negatively affect that nation for years to come. They need serious multinational help, greater than what Greenpeace can muster.

[juajen]

3. Louisiana's beaches are always full of those oil balls

It's a dirty shame our oil-ruined wetlands, swamps and beaches have been ruined by big oil for the consumption of oil and gas by this whole nation, and we cannot get just compensation from the oil companies and/or the government in the form of oil and gas royalties. Gov. Blanco is trying her best. Let's hope she will be successful.

[n2doc]

4. I seem to remember them trying steam for the Valdez spill

But nothing really worked. They could scrup the surfaces but the oil is still underneath, in the sand.

[MADem]

7. You've actually got to dig up the sand and dispose of it

With oil costs going up, perhaps some methodology in the oil recovery industry could get it out from the soiled sand and get some use out of it, but really, to properly repair the damaged region, you have to dig it all up and replace the sand with materials dredged from a "clean" area.

Horrifically expensive, as well as an additional insult to the environment while the process is going on.

[YankeyMCC]

5. I heard a story recently about

the spill in the Philippines. They have no money for the clean up (I think it was about 10,000 gallons) and the Philippine Coast Guard has started a drive to collect human hair clippings to use that to absorb the oil.

According to the story the idea of using human hair goes back to sometime in the 80's but that's the first I heard of it.

I wonder if human hair clippings really can be affective if it would be worth a similar drive to help in Lebanon too.

[MADem]

6. WOW, I had to do a little research after I read your post--it piqued my

interest because I've seen how this sort of work is done, and I had never heard of that. But sure enough, ya learn something new EVERY day!!!!!!

MANILA, Philippines -- Volunteers in the Philippines are getting shorn to save the shore. The cast-off clippings of human hair are going to be used to help mop up oil from a disastrous spill that has fouled beaches, coral reefs and mangrove swamps.

Faced with its worst-ever oil spill and scant funds, the Philippines turned to the low-tech campaign after a tanker sank and began leaking bunker oil three weeks ago off Guimaras Island. The province is known for its beach resorts and pristine marine reserves.

The Southeast Asian nation plans to put cast-off clippings of human hair from salon owners and other volunteers in permeable sacks for use as improvised booms to contain the oil.

Even President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has joined in, ordering a government task force to set up collection centers for hair and chicken feathers, which also are being used, along with straw and other natural materials.

About 500 hair salons in metropolitan Manila have joined the "Stop the Oil

Spill" drive by collecting hair clippings from their shops, said Linda Francisco, president of the Salon Owners and Hairdressers Association Inc.

"We target at least 100,000 bags of hair," said Francisco, whose group plans to offer free cuts to students, starting with three public schools next week. "We hope it can be a nationwide effort, not only of salons but also of volunteers who could share their time and donations."

Danilo Dador, an officer at the maximum-security wing of the national penitentiary in Manila's Muntinlupa suburb, said Wednesday that most of the more than 11,000 inmates there have volunteered to have their hair shaved or trimmed.

NASA engineers in the United States did some tests in 1998, showing that hair would indeed help clean up oil.

However, marine biologist Rex Sadaba of the University of the Philippines Visayas isn't sold on using hair or chicken feathers, and says abundant materials such as straw may be better.

Sadaba said hair takes time to degrade, does not really absorb oil and may not be hygienic.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=060831_Ne_A2_Clean9249

Really, ya got a few tonnes of oil in the water, and the guy is worried about hygiene?

I think the way it works is more as a blocker, that gathers the spill in, and prevents it from escaping under or over the boom.