[WCUSP] Fw: [nwgreens] [Fwd: Lebanon's Month-Old Oil Slick Sinks]

Mon Aug 28 10:08:27 CDT 2006

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "jim stasheff" <jds at math.upenn.edu>
To: "Montco_Green_News" <Montco_Green_News at yahoogroups.com>; 
<nwgreens at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 9:40 AM
Subject: [nwgreens] [Fwd: Lebanon's Month-Old Oil Slick Sinks]


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> /Published on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 by the Associated Press
> <http://www.ap.org> /
> *Lebanon's Month-Old Oil Slick Sinks *
> *by Lauren Frayer *
>
>
> An oil slick caused by Israeli bombing has begun sinking to the floor of
> the Mediterranean, blanketing marine life with sludge, according to a
> Greenpeace video that shows dead fish along the sea bottom.
>
> The scuba diver's videotape, released Tuesday by Greenpeace, also shows
> the sunken slick sliding ominously toward a lone red sea urchin rooted
> in the sand, its tentacles waving in the current. The footage
> graphically details some of the environmental destruction a month after
> the oil spill began sinking, creating what has been called Lebanon's
> worst-ever environmental disaster.
>
> The U.N. has said the spill could take as long as a year to clean up and
> cost $64 million.
>
> "You have the bottom of the sea filled with fuel _ between the rocks and
> little valleys. It's just dotted and covered with black tar," said
> Mohammed El Sarji, head of the Lebanese Union of Professional Divers.
>
> Sarji recorded the footage, which showed oil spread four inches thick
> over a 100-yard-wide area of the sea bed near Beirut.
>
> Some 110,000 barrels began pouring into the Mediterranean after Israeli
> warplanes on July 14 hit a coastal power plant at Jiyeh, 12 miles south
> of Beirut. More missiles hit a day later. Six fuel tanks ruptured in
> all, sparking explosions that knocked out a dike meant to prevent spills.
>
> Israeli military officials said Tuesday that the fuel tanks were
> attacked as part of a broader campaign against infrastructure used by
> the guerrillas to transport weapons. The attacks were meant to disrupt
> Hezbollah's fuel supplies, said the officials, who spoke on condition of
> anonymity under military regulations.
>
> At first, the oil slathered 85 miles of Lebanon's coastline _ reaching
> into Syria _ and blocked sunlight from penetrating the water's surface,
> killing small plants on which many fish feed. Now that it is sinking,
> the oil threatens plants and fish that live on the sea floor.
>
> "Some of it became denser than sea water and sank to the bottom. It's
> like a big thick blanket that smothers living organisms," said Rick
> Steiner, a professor at the University of Alaska and oil spill expert
> who worked on the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.
>
> "That was three times larger this, but it was crude oil, and this is
> fuel oil that was going to run generators (at the power plant). This
> stuff is heavier and thicker _ and much harder to work with. It gets
> stuck to rocks and it's difficult to wash off," he said. "But the good
> thing about it being so thick is that we might be able to get it off the
> sea bed with rakes or shovels."
>
> U.N. officials on Tuesday expressed worry at the slow pace of the
> cleanup, hampered by Israeli bombardment and blockades for a month while
> oil continued to seep out into the Mediterranean.
>
> "There have been hostilities in the area, and the environmental side of
> Lebanon's problems unfortunately couldn't be addressed until now," said
> Nick Nuttall, spokesman for the U.N. Environment Program.
>
> On Monday, Israel granted the U.N. permission to fly over Lebanon's
> coast to do an aerial survey of the spill, and flights were expected to
> begin within days, Nuttall said.
>
> Finland on Tuesday said it would send nearly $800,000 to help with the
> operation and urged other EU countries to join in. Cleaning equipment
> has already arrived from Norway, and more was on the way from France,
> Nuttall said.
>
> Removing the thick sludge from the sea floor would require
> remote-controlled underwater vehicles, or dredging devices towed behind
> a floating vessel motoring up and down the coast, said Steiner, who was
> contracted by the Lebanese government to help.
>
> With an Israeli naval blockade still in place, that large of an
> operation on Lebanon's coast _ with divers and boats to move against the
> spill _ would be possible only with Israeli permission.
>
> Nuttall said he was optimistic such access would be granted. "We have
> assurances from the Israeli authorities," he said.
>
> The U.N. overflights would gauge the amount of oil still floating on top
> of the water, and estimate damage to Lebanon's shoreline. But Steiner
> said the amount of oil that has submerged was still unknown _ and 
> dangerous.
>
> "If we don't get this stuff out of the water, a month or six months from
> now, this it will probably pop back to the surface ... . We could see
> huge tar balls washing up on shores of the Mediterranean for years to
> come," he said.
>
> The spill appeared to be staying along the Lebanese and Syrian coasts.
> Mediterranean currents had pushed the oil northward toward Syria,
> closing beaches there, Steiner said. To the south, Israel's environment
> ministry said Tuesday, no traces had been spotted on Israeli shores.
> North of Syria, Turkish authorities also said the slick had not reached
> their shores.
>
> With 20 years experience cleaning up oil spills, Steiner said the dense
> fuel sludge posed a special challenge.
>
> "Every single oil spill is unique, but this one was caused by an act of
> war ... . But I'm not even sure that even if we'd had all the equipment
> in the world and access, we would have been able to contain this," he
> said. "Once the oil hits the water, it's too late."
>
> © 2006 The Associated Press
>
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