Press release on the effects of Israeli War on the Environment of Lebanon

5 August 2006

The Ministry of Environment is monitoring the environmental situation on the national scale. Below you will find some information on the effects the Israeli War has had on Lebanon. Further information will be circulated when available.

Air Pollution

There are many factors that cause air pollution and that are a direct consequence of the war on Lebanon and they are:

The particulate air matter that are emitted by the bombing of building and infrastructure and that are carried by the air and can cause breathing problems.
Chemical materials used by Israel in the make up of its artillery. The effects of these chemicals change according to the type and make up of the chemical used.
Piling up of the solid waste on roads and public pathways and their decomposition thereby producing methane and volatile organics compounds.

All of these sources can cause damages to natural environmental resources and on public health such as:

The spread of diseases and plagues
An increase in respiratory illnesses such as asthma and allergies
An increase in the emission of greenhouse gasses that will impact climate change
Acid rain

Radioactive pollution

There has been mention in different sources that Israel has been using artillery that contains depleted Uranium. The effects of these weapons, as has happened in Iraq, are long term and impact the human gene pool and spans generations.

Marine and coastal groundwater pollution

The Isreali attacks on Jieh power plant south of Beirut has led to 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil spilling into the sea. Because of wind factors and water currents, this oil spill has spread from Jieh all the way to Al Abdeh in the North and has reached Tartous in Syria. The pollution from the oil spill has effected private and public rocky and sandy beaches as well as private and public ports and marinas and fishermen’s wharves.

This oil spill can have a lot of negative impacts on the following:

Public health: it can cause dermatological (skin) problems for swimmers and it can also cause problems in the digestive tract because of possible accumulation of toxic chemicals in polluted fish.
Biodiversity: a number of marine plants and animals are threatened with extinction because of their exposure to this oil pollution. In addition to the effect on marine birds should the oil stick to their wings.
Tourism: this oil spill negatively effects the coastal tourism by the loss of attracting future possible tourists wishing to swim not to mention the negative impact on the visual beauty of the Lebanese coast.
Economy: Fishermen and restaurant owners and tourist resorts and other organizations dependent on the Lebanese coast for their livelihood have been severely handicapped by this spill.

Solid Waste Issues

Due to the war, the evacuation of the workers that were integral to the collection of the solid waste lead to the piling up of the wastes in the streets which has started to decompose due to the heat and has caused the spread of bad smells and can lead to the spread of diseases, insects and vermin.

In addition to that, the widespread destruction that has leveled residential and industrial buildings and destroyed roads and bridges has created an immense amount of construction type wastes that need to be taken care of in the coming period as soon as the war ends which meant that there has to be sites and dumps identified that can handle these wastes.

Loss of Green Cover

The Israeli bombardment of forests and the resulting fires is causing the loss further green cover which can lead to deforestation and in turn exacerbates the air pollution and climate change issues.

Cost of the after effects of war

It is important to note that reconstruction and rebuilding what was demolished during the war will have a huge negative on the natural environment of Lebanon especially that which relates to the extraction of sand and quarrying.