Oil from bombed plant covers Lebanon shore

BEIRUT, Lebanon – A black coat of oil now covers the Lebanese capital’s once-beautiful sandy Mediterranean shore, spilled from a power plant that was knocked down by Israeli warplanes two weeks ago.

Fishermen say hundreds of oil-coated fish have been washed ashore in what is the country’s worst ever environmental disaster.

About 80 miles of Lebanon’s shores had been affected by a spill of more than 110,000 barrels of oil from the Jiyeh plant, about 12 miles south of Beirut, the city’s mayor, Abdel Monem Ariss, said Friday. The plant was in flames after it was hit in Israeli air raids, cutting electricity to many areas in the capital and south Lebanon.

“Depending on how the wind is blowing, I think many shores will be soiled with this oil spill,” Ariss told The Associated Press.

AP