Lebanon Oil Spill Soils over 90 Miles of Coastline; IMO and UNEP Mobilizing to Deal with Environmen

The United Nation’s International Maritime Organization (IMO), in concert with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has agreed upon an action plan to address the growing environmental disaster posed by the massive spill from a Lebanese power plant. Last week, a meeting in Athens between the two organizations provided the approval for an action plan to clean up the spill.

The price tag for cleaning up the estimated 10,000 to 15,000 tons of spilled fuel oil is expected to exceed $65 million. Other countries in the area, along with the European Union are expected to participate in the effort to mitigate what is possibly the worst oil spill to ever hit the Middle East. The fuel oil seeped into the Mediterranean Sea from a damaged power plant located just south of Beirut after being struck by bombs in July during the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah guerillas.

The Action Plan was reportedly prepared by the Experts Working Group for Lebanon under the supervision of the UNEP-MAP's Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) and the Minister of the Environment of Lebanon. The effectiveness of the joint efforts to address the spill will largely depend on whether the fragile cease fire can take hold and allow cleanup crews to work without the fear of personal injury.