UN pledges $64 million for Lebanese oil spill
UN steps up efforts to tackle oil spill
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Friday, 18, Aug 2006 08:28
The United Nations has pledged millions of dollars to help tackle the oil spill polluting the Lebanese and Syrian coastline.
The oil spill was caused by Israel's bombing of the Jiyyeh power station, located south of Beirut, last month.
With the truce between Israel and Hizbullah militants holding, the UN deems in safe to begin the clean-up effort.
Up to 15,000 tonnes of fuel oil flowed into the Mediterranean Sea, killing marine life and affecting around 100 miles of coastline.
As part of the action plan, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the UN environment programme, the EU and representatives from Lebanon, Syria, Greece and Turkey, pledged an initial sum of around $64 million with possibly more funds pencilled in for next year.
The plans includes immediate helicopter aerial surveys to determine the extent of the pollution, a workforce of 300 people to clean up to 30 sites and a long-term assessment of what can be learned from the ecological disaster.
Detailing the plans, Achim Steiner, UNEP's executive director, said: "One is the impact of the oil itself, the physical contamination and pollution of animals, or plant life, of plankton, and that clearly is significant."
"The second is really the toxicities, the chemical elements that can affect the marine biodiversity, but also human health," he added.
"And finally the risks are related to the cleanup. A lot of chemicals are used, dispersants. They themselves can have an impact on the environment as well, long term and far reaching."
Lebanese environment minister Yacoub Sarraf described the spill as the biggest environmental catastrophe in his country's history.
UNEP has compared the spill to the disaster in 1999 off the coast of France when the Erika tanker spilled an estimated 13,000 metric tonnes of oil into the Atlantic Ocean.
It is estimated more than $200 million is needed to clean up the coastline.