Lebanon oil slick 'worst environmental disaster' ever

[tocqueville]

in Med by Sammy Ketz
7 minutes ago

BEIRUT (AFP) - The Mediterranean is threatened by its worst ever environmental disaster after Israel's bombing of a power plant in Lebanon sent thousands of tonnes of fuel gushing into the sea, the environment minister charged.

"Up until now 10,000-15,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil have spilled out into the sea," after Israel's bombing of the power station in Jiyeh two weeks ago, Lebanese Environment Minister Yacub Sarraf told AFP Saturday.

"It's without doubt the biggest environmental catastrophe that the Mediterranean has known and it risks having terrible consequences not only for our country but for all the countries of the eastern Mediterranean."

Israeli forces bombed the tanks at the power station on July 14 and July 15, just days into their offensive on Lebanon which has seen blistering air strikes across the country and a bloody ground incursion in the south.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060729/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictlebanonenvironment;_ylt=Au7WtKXRVt1mgvfUmM3FwGsHcggF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--
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This is threatening the whole area. The Israelis are using the environment as warfare exactly as Saddam did under Gulf War. This horrified the world at that time. Israel will have to pay for that.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. So, do the sea currents over there flow nort or south? -nt

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. I am an atheist.

So, ARE there regular sea currents in the Mediterranean or not?

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

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[tocqueville]

10. very complicated but northwards - westwards

1998). In the Eastern basin deep water is formed in the Adriatic and in the Aegean sea (Malanotte-Rizzoli and Hecht, 1988; 1988; Roether et al., 1994), and in the North Western Mediterranean (light gray area in Fig. 1 and NWM hereafter) in the Gulf of Lyon (MEDOC Group, 1970, Schott et al., 1994). The fate of the Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW) still remains uncertain even if there are some indication that WMDW contributes to the Gibraltar outflow (Bryden and Stommel, 1982; Wu and Haines, 1998). The existence of LIW SRM acts as a source of static instability in the Gulf of Lyon heat forced winter deep convection and a proper representation of the LIW path represents a primary element for a correct numerical simulation of the Mediterranean circulation because deep water formation and LIW dispersal are linked to one another to establish the overall thermohaline circulation.(Wu and Haines, 1996). In the Western basin, experimental observations show either a LIW bifurcation west of Sardinia in two branches (Wüst 1961), respectively going northward to the NWM and westward directly to Gibraltar, or a single northward boundary current west of Sardinia (Millot, 1987; Brasseur et al., 1996). This area is characterized by strong mesoscale activity with large eddies that, starting from the African Coast, propagate northward both at the surface and in the subsurface layer (Millot, 1991, Iudicone et al., 1998). Most of the previous numerical studies of the Mediterranean circulation display a predominant westward LIW pathway without the northward branch. (Roussenov et al., 1995 Castellari et al., 2000). In Wu and Haines (1996) the northward LIW branch is present only in the first 10 years of the model integration, while in a successive work the same authors (Wu and Haines 1998), using strong temperature surface relaxation constant and very low diffusivity and viscosity eddy coefficients, maintained for a 120 years simulation the northward LIW transport with the related

http://clima.casaccia.enea.it/staff/rupolo/article/bab/text/node5.html


The spill is now affecting 70 kilometres (40 miles) of Lebanon's 220-kilometre-long (140 miles) coast, a third of its coastline. Beaches and rocks are covered in a black sludge which has reached the famous tourist town of Byblos, north of Beirut.

"If nothing is done, not only will currents flowing towards the north mean that one third of Lebanon's coastline be hit, but also Cyprus, Syria, Turkey, Greece and even Israel," Sarraf said.

"The fauna and the Mediterranean ecosystem risk suffering badly and certain species are threatened with extinction," he warned.

Sarraf said that owing to the Israeli blockade of Lebanon's waters, it was impossible to send ships to clear up the pollution.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060729/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictlebanonenvironment

[malaise]

16. This should be sent to Al Gore

for immediate action.

[Tom Joad]

45. Heh, You know al gore says this is right, because it was Israel's action

it was the right thing to do.

[bahrbearian]

42. Northward don't you know that Israel factored that in..?

[leftchick]

2. they are terrorists

plain and simple. TERRORISTS! :cry:

[malaise]

15. Plain and fugging simple

I will NEVER forgive them.
isael won't escape its own punishment for this - they are next door.

[enuffs_enuffs]

3. I do believe they will cite "unintended consequences"

Our media will parrot ad nausium... and of course ignore all else. Besides, it's about security... RIGHT??? :eyes:

Batshit crazy bastards.

[HereSince1628]

5. Oil as a weapon of environmental destruction, me thinks.

If you don't control much of your own, spill the other guys.

[CrispyQ]

7. This pisses me off beyond belief. --nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. Me too

How despicable.

[ixion]

8. way to go, Israel... doing everyting in their power to destroy all

around them. :puke:

[Joanne98]

9. If all that oil drifts down to Israeli beaches there will be instant

WHINING.

[Toots]

11. Another "No-Bid Contract for Halliburton I guess

How fortunate for them..:shrug:

[Mandate My Ass]

13. There was no reason for this

this is truly tragic, there should be reparations but there won't be.

[PA Democrat]

14. Bad enough that this has occurred, but additionally, clean-up efforts are

are being thwarted:

"Sarraf said that owing to the Israeli blockade of Lebanon's waters, it was impossible to send ships to clear up the pollution."

[laura888]

17. Those responsible for this should clean it up. n/t

[snappyturtle]

18. I think they should be labeled: evil doers and be taken care of.....

The fake diplomacy thing, the foot dragging, is giving Israel more time to unleash it's furor on the world.

[Beelzebud]

19. This must be part of Israel's "Measured Response".

It's getting harder and harder for me to view this as Israel just defending itself....

[atfqn]

20. You mean to say,

that the pictures of the roadways, bridges, ambulances, UN structures and civilians bombed or destroyed beyond recognition left any shred of credibility to the argument "Israel is defending itself...." Nothing personal meant of course, I am just shocked that there are still people who think this is acceptable in the name of "defense."

[Beelzebud]

21. Agreed.

I was appauled the second I saw civilian apartment buildings being blown to dust.

I wonder how much some are willing to let Israel do?

[atfqn]

23. I am glad you didn't take it personally

and acknowledged my jibe as a comment on the whole. (Thick skin seems to be a precious commodity of late.)

[Beelzebud]

22. Hezzbolah in every molecule of water. Terror in every grain of sand.

I'm sure this is where Hezbollah has its underwater lair. /me pukes.

[Judi Lynn]

24. God damn them. n/t

[Bluebear]

43. indeed.

[Voltaire99]

47. Thirded. (nt)

[idgiehkt]

25. why Lydia Lunch said once

that she didn't want to be reincarnated again after this life. She said "I have reached my limit of tolerance for this reality."

That's exactly how I feel right about now. Stuff like this is so disgusting to me...makes me wanna die. I hate people who do stuff like this and I hope there is a special hell reserved exactly for them.

[Mandate My Ass]

27. me too

:-(

[malaise]

29. Me three

How come there is no discussion on MSMAchine on this environmental disaster.
There was coverage on BBC International.

Ass

[vickitulsa]

30. I did see one report on either CNN or MSNBC.

It was a good one and fairly lengthy, too -- female reporter walking on that very beach, and you could see the horror even more clearly than in the still pics posted above.

Come to think of it, what about all the environmental havoc being wrought by the other damage done by the relentless bombing? Since a great many Lebanese citizens have been without power, no clean water, food supplies spoiling, sewer systems likely not working properly, it seems to me it's fairly certain there will be huge environmental problems resulting.

I know it'll seem strange to some, but the plain truth is, environmental catastrophes like this one will enrage a lot of people who have grown accustomed to the fact that lots of innocents die in wars. Sadly, we even get used to seeing pictures of blown-up children, although most might avoid them at all costs.

But there's something about seeing our "mother" earth despoiled and ruined so senselessly like this that encites a lot of folks to outrage. And rightly so.

When I saw the report of this "oil spill" on the TV news, I hoped it would get replayed and reported by others, too, so everyone could see just what is going on over there....

One thing about it. THIS war isn't being covered by reporters who are "embedded" and neatly contained, with access only to what the U.S. military machine would give them. THIS war is being reported as it happens by members of the media from a great many countries, and those in the field seem to have pretty much unfettered access to most of the disasters.

Already this spreading of the news has changed the way a lot of the world is reacting to the Israeli response to Hezbollah kidnappings and rocketing of border towns.

[gristy]

32. It was CNN - I just saw it

Very good report. Very sad.

[Holly_Hobby]

26. Kick n/t

:kick:

[Selatius]

31. Will the state of Israel pay for the environmental clean up?

Or will Lebanon pay for the mess IAF warplanes caused?

[Alpharetta]

36. another "loan" from the U.S. for that?

They can't pay for anything. The U.S. "loans" them 12 Billion dollars a year and then "forgives" the loan.

Don't let anyone tell you the U.S. has no control over Israel. $12B a year is a lot of control.

[AzDar]

33. Kick....(unfuckingbelievable) n/t

:puke:

[w4rma]

34. Israel should pay and provide the manpower for this clean up.

And *now*.

[Mr_Spock]

38. Will they also rebuild the bridges & other infrastructure they destroyed?

I think not. This is despicable.

[Crunchy Frog]

35. It's Hezbollah's fault

for using the environment as a "sheild".:sarcasm:

I seriously hope that the Israeli coastline gets hit hard with this.

[Mr_Spock]

37. This is disgusting

Why would they do something so against man and earth?

I am very disgusted at thier over-reaction to this situation.

[LibertyorDeath]

39. Luckily the Oil doesn't give a shit if it flows South

contaminating Israel's shorelines.

talk about cutting of your nose to spite your face.

fucking idiots.

[smacky44]

40. Yeah, what if God decided to send a strong southernly wind over the Med?

[LibertyorDeath]

41. Well they helped crucify his son so he's got a score to settle.

:)

[K8-EEE]

44. ISREAL NEEDS TO PAY TO CLEAN IT UP!

God that pisses me off...for WHAT? They are just in dumb destruction mode, what purpose does this serve? Kill all the terr'rist sea life?

[Tom Joad]

46. Israel has been killing Palestinian children with impunity for decades

and now that there are pics of oily crabs people are taking notice of the crimes being done with our military aid? About F... time!

[Voltaire99]

48. The work of a terrorist state. And one, not incidentally...

...for which nearly every sitting Democrat in office is acting as full-throated apologist.

We've seen what AIPAC lackeys are like. So when do we get leaders of conscience?