Damage to Lebanon’s ecology and agriculture due to the war with Israel amounts to over $400 million, according to research by Lebanon’s Ministry of Environment (MoE) and a recently published survey by the World Food Organization (FAO). Following the bombing of the Jiyeh power plant in July, an estimated 12 to 15 million tons of heavy fuel poured into the Lebanese coast. Today, according to the MoE, the ongoing post-war clean-up operation has cost some $150 million. Extensive clean-up operation “Lebanon’s oil spill differs from all other spills known so far,” said Ghada Mitri, the ministry’s oil spill communications officer. “Most oil spills occur at sea. The Lebanese spill occurred on land after the Jieh storage tanks were bombed. The fuel oil then leaked into the sea, was carried by water and wind north of the site and then washed up all along the Lebanese coast.” Some 150 kilometers of
