€50m action plan for Lebanon oil spill

A €50 million action plan to assist the authorities in Lebanon with the clean-up of coastal oil pollution and to prevent any damage to neighbouring countries was agreed yesterday at an international meeting convened by the International Maritime...

A €50 million action plan to assist the authorities in Lebanon with the clean-up of coastal oil pollution and to prevent any damage to neighbouring countries was agreed yesterday at an international meeting convened by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Athens.

A statement issued by the UNEP said United Nations officials and experts, along with countries in the region and the European Commission, backed a plan aimed at dealing with an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes of fuel oil that seeped into the Mediterranean Sea from a damaged power utility 30km south of Beirut.

The pollution, triggered by Israeli bombs striking the facility between July 13 and 15, is estimated to have affected 150km of coastline with some oil reaching as far north as Syria.

The International Assistance Action Plan has been 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), based in Malta, and the Minister of the Environment of Lebanon.

Rempec is administered by the UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and is one of UNEP-MAP regional activity centres under the Barcelona Convention.

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