Along Lebanon’s sandy beaches runs a belt of black sludge, 10,000 to 30,000 tonnes of oil that spilled into the Mediterranean Sea after Israel bombed a power plant, reported The Age (29/7/2006, p.15).
Oil storage tanks hit: Lebanon’s Environment Ministry said the oil flooded into the sea after Israeli jets hit storage tanks south of Beirut in the first fews days of fighting, creating an ecological crisis that the government has neither the money nor the expertise to deal with.
$US50m needed for clean-up: "We have never seen a spill like this in the history of Lebanon. It is a major catastrophe," Environment Minister Yacoub al-Sarraf said. The clean-up "would need an armada" and the cost could be as high as $US50 million ($A66 million).
80km-long spill: Swept by a north-easterly wind, the spill has travelled 80 kilometres along the coast of Lebanon. An Israeli warship damaged by a Hezbollah missile may also have spilled diesel oil into the sea.
The Age, 29/7/2006, p. 15
Source: Erisk Net