1/3 Of Lebanon's Coast Fouled With Oil From Bombed Power Plant - Reuters

[hatrack]

LONDON - Leaking oil from a bombed power station in Lebanon has damaged about a third of the country's coastline, the world's top maritime body said on Wednesday. The UN International Maritime Organisation (IMO) said in a statement that some 10,000 tonnes of fuel oil had spilled into the Mediterranean from the damaged Jiyyeh plant south of Beirut.

It said another 25,000 tonnes of the heavy oil slurry -- similar to the type that devastated beaches in northern Spain following the Prestige oil tanker disaster in 2002 -- could still escape from ruptured storage tanks. "The Lebanese coastline, for some 70-80 km north of the power plant, has been affected. These areas are composed of sandy beaches, rocky beaches, fishing ports and marinas," the IMO said.

Lebanon's Environment Ministry says Israeli jets hit the storage tanks on July 13 and 15 and described the leakage as an environmental catastrophe.

Ecologists say the spill is especially threatening because fish spawn and sea turtles, including the green turtle which is endangered in the Mediterranean, nest on Lebanon's coast.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/37489/story.htm

[marmar]

1. War is the gift that keeps on giving, isn't it?

Just one horror after another.

[European Socialist]

2. Is this story ever gonna make TV news?