The recent war between Israel and Hezbollah-Lebanon has claimed another casualty. This time the victim is not an innocent civilian, and Israeli soldier, or a Hezbollah fighter. It is the environment. This injury may bring the most wide-ranging and lasting price to be paid for this war. According to the
New York Times,
Spilled and burning oil, along with forest fires, toxic waste flows and growing garbage heaps have gone from nuisances to threats to people and wildlife, they say, marring a country traditionally known for its clean air and scenic greenery. Many of Lebanon's once pristine beaches and much of its coastline have been coated with a thick sludge that threatens marine life.
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The most significant damage has come from airstrikes on an oil storage depot at the edge of Jiyeh on July 13 and 15. Oil spewed into the Mediterranean Sea and a fire erupted that has been burning ever since.
Four of the plant's six oil storage containers have burned completely, spilling at least 10,000 tons of thick fuel oil into the sea initially, and possibly up to 15,000 more in the weeks since. A fifth tank burst into flames on Thursday, residents said, adding to a smoke cloud that has spewed soot and debris miles away. The fire is so hot that it has melted rail cars into blobs and turned the sand below into glass.
Engineers are concerned that a sixth tank still untouched by the fire could soon explode, making the situation even graver.
Not surprisingly, Lebanon is ill prepared to deal with this ecological disaster. According to Lebanese officials in a Reuters article,
"We have never seen a spill like this in the history of Lebanon. It is a major catastrophe," Environment Minister Yacoub al-Sarraf told Reuters.
"The equipment we have is for minor spills. We use it once in a blue moon to clean a small spill of 50 tonnes or so. To clean this whole thing up we would need an armada ... The cost of a full clean-up could run as high as $40-50 million..."
"To really clean it up we need access to the sea, which we don't have," Sarraf said. "We need more equipment and mobilisation but for that we need the hostilities to end."
The plague that is war in the Middle East continues inflict more "collateral damage." What will it take for Israel and Hezbollah to realize that they will simply destroy themselves if this is allowed to continue? What will it take for the incompetent and unwilling administration in the United State to take a leading role in bringing an end to hostilities?