UNEP's post conflict assessment of Lebanon's environment
Arab Environment Monitor
UNEP's post conflict assessment of Lebanon's environment Arab Environment
Monitor
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Berlin, 23 January 2007— Serious and in some cases widespread environmental
challenges are confronting the Lebanese authorities as a result of the recent
conflict, a report launched today by the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) says.
Many of the bombed and burnt out factories and industrial complexes including
the Jiyeh power plant south of Beirut are contaminated with a variety of toxic
and health hazardous substances.
Urgent action is needed to remove and safely dispose of such substances, which
include ash and leaked chemicals amid concerns they represent a threat to water
supplies and public health.
Dealing with and disposing of significant quantities of war-related debris,
including health care and hospital waste represents a further and major
environmental challenge.
The sheer scale of the debris is overwhelming existing municipal dump sites and
waste management regimes, the team found.
The report also stresses the importance of rapidly removing unexploded cluster
bombs, especially in the south of the country where large areas of economically
important agricultural land have become” out of bounds” for farmers.
Wide-spread damage to Lebanon’s water supply and sewage networks also occurred
as a result of the recent hostilities. Prior to the 34-day conflict, which took
place between July and August 2006, the networks had been undergoing
comprehensive upgrading and modernisation.
“These networks were extensively damaged in the conflict and hence present a
risk of groundwater contamination and a potential public health hazard. Waste
water management constitutes a major chronic environmental stress factor,”says
the report, prepared by UNEP’s Post Conflict Branch.
On a more positive note, the report indicates that oil pollution to the marine
environment has been largely contained and contamination levels appear to be
generally typical of coastal areas of that part of the Mediterranean. This
should be good news for the country’s economically important tourism and
fisheries sectors.
A further positive finding, particularly in the light of various high profile
media reports, come from studies in Beirut and southern Lebanon of sites struck
by munitions. Detailed field tests and analysis of samples at laboratories in
Europe have found no evidence that the missiles used contained depleted uranium
or another kind of radioactive material.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said:
“This post conflict assessment was carried out at the request of the Lebanese
authorities following the cessation of hostilities in mid August last year”.