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Lebanon Facing its Worst Environmental Disaster Ever: Oil Spill From Israeli Strike
Scientists are scrambling to control what is being described as the worst environmental disaster ever to hit Lebanon. An Israeli attack on a power station last month has leaked 15,000 tons of oil into the Mediterranean. The spill has gone untreated for the past four weeks. We go to Beirut to speak with Lebanon's environment minister and an environmental activist working in the area.
As the Israeli assault on Lebanon enters its 30th day, scientists are scrambling to control what is being described as the worst environmental disaster ever to hit Lebanon.
Four weeks ago the Israeli military attacked a power station on the Lebanese coast, blowing up the plant's five large fuel tanks.
Since then around 15,000 tons of oil have leaked into the Mediterranean Sea. Satellite images show the spill has already reached as far as north as Syria. 70 miles of coastline have already been polluted. Environmentalists fear the spill could also end up affecting Cyprus, Turkey and Greece.
For the past month the oil spill has gone untreated because of the ongoing Israeli air attacks and naval blockade. One United Nations official described the situation as an "environmental massacre." Friends of the Earth has warned that the spill, if left unchecked, threatens to be the greatest environmental disaster ever in the Eastern Mediterranean.
* Yacoub Sarraf, Environment Minister of Lebanon.
* Wael Hmaidan, coordinator of the Oil Spill Working Group, a coalition of environmental organizations in Lebanon. He is a former Greenpeace campaigner for the Arab World. He is also an organizer with the peace group Lil Hayat, a coalition of 40 Lebanese organizations and NGOs that held a peace rally in Beirut last week.
LISTEN ONLINE:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/10/1339238
Four weeks ago the Israeli military attacked a power station on the Lebanese coast, blowing up the plant's five large fuel tanks.
Since then around 15,000 tons of oil have leaked into the Mediterranean Sea. Satellite images show the spill has already reached as far as north as Syria. 70 miles of coastline have already been polluted. Environmentalists fear the spill could also end up affecting Cyprus, Turkey and Greece.
For the past month the oil spill has gone untreated because of the ongoing Israeli air attacks and naval blockade. One United Nations official described the situation as an "environmental massacre." Friends of the Earth has warned that the spill, if left unchecked, threatens to be the greatest environmental disaster ever in the Eastern Mediterranean.
* Yacoub Sarraf, Environment Minister of Lebanon.
* Wael Hmaidan, coordinator of the Oil Spill Working Group, a coalition of environmental organizations in Lebanon. He is a former Greenpeace campaigner for the Arab World. He is also an organizer with the peace group Lil Hayat, a coalition of 40 Lebanese organizations and NGOs that held a peace rally in Beirut last week.
LISTEN ONLINE:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/10/1339238
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