Jiyeh Power Station oil spill

This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.The Jiyeh Power Station oil spill is an environmental disaster caused by the release of heavy fuel oil into the eastern Mediterranean after storage tanks at the thermal power station in Jiyeh, Lebanon, 30 km (19 mi) south of Beirut, were bombed by the Israeli Air force on July 14 and July 15, 2006 during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.

The slick killed fish, threatened the habitat of endangered green sea turtles, and potentially increased the risk of cancer.

[17] Following this there was a precise rerun of the discussion and vote in December 2007, with the Australia, Canada, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau and the United States coming out again against a General Assembly Resolution requesting Israel to take responsibility.

Minor and pre-final clean-up activities at about 12 sites along the Lebanese coast, with a total length of approximately 7.5 kilometers, were quickly put into play and monitored by the Ministry of the Environment of the government of Lebanon.

A waste management project was also put in place in order to safely collect and transport the polluting material from the shorelines to temporary storage sites.

The General Assembly decided to establish an Eastern Mediterranean Oil Spill Restoration Trust Fund, based on contributions from donor countries and organizations, to provide assistance and support to the States directly and adversely affected in their management of an environmentally sound sea and wildlife, from clean-up process to safe disposal of the oily waste that is on the shorelines, of this environmental disaster caused by the destruction of the oil storage tanks at the Jieh electric power plant in Lebanon.

Nasa image of spill, taken August 10, 2006. Oil slick in darker blue.
The oil-polluted water washing into the harbour of Byblos .
The oil spillage caused by the Jiyeh bombings in mid July, had by 29 July coated the whole water surface in Byblos harbour, some 60 km north of Jiyeh.
Oil from the bombed power plant of Jieh contaminating the beaches of Beirut
Workers clean up oil spill in 2006