Lebanese Documentary on 2006 Oil Spill Screened at AUB

During the film screening at College Hall B1

The oil spill that turned the Lebanese coastal waters into an ominous black shortly after Israel bombed the Jiyyeh Power Plant last summer was the subject of the new award-winning documentary screened at AUB on November 15.

Directed by filmmaker Hady Zaccak, the 30-minute documentary was produced by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and was awarded first prize in an international film festival held in October in Italy.

Organized by the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at AUB in cooperation with the Lebanese Ministry of Environment and the AUB Environment Club, the screening attracted many students, faculty, and environmentalists who filled the College Hall B1. The film was followed by a discussion with Zaccak, Hala Kilani from IUCN, and Ghada Mitri from the Ministry of Environment, moderated by Professor Iman Nuwayhid of the Health Sciences Department.

Completed in February 2007, the film documents how two consecutive Israeli bombings, on July 13 and 15, 2006, had resulted in more than 15,000 tons of oil being dumped into the Mediterranean, causing one of the worst environmental disasters in the region. It also chronicles the struggle of the Lebanese authorities and civil society in dealing with the catastrophe under the very tough war and postwar conditions.

"Lebanon is a non-oil producing nation," said Kilani, "and is not equipped with the tools and expertise to deal with a large-scale oil spill. Moreover, the country was under embargo and could not access international expertise." The embargo was lifted more than a month after the spill occurred.

The film showed the thick black goo covering the seabed, rocks, sand, and dead fish and notes how the oil slick affected the livelihoods of more than 40,000 people working in the fisheries sector and other industries, including tourism. It also highlights the harm caused to important ecological sites, such as Palm Islands Nature Reserve, home to important bird, flora, and marine species. Throughout the 150-kilometer polluted coastline, endangered turtles nesting on sandy beaches were highly exposed to the toxic fuel that went untreated for more than a month because of the war.

Mitri explained that the ministry's initial concern was to prevent the last remaining tank at the power plant, which held 25,000 tons of oil, from spilling into the sea. "Otherwise, the problem would have been twice or three times as bad," she said.

Although the sea has been completely cleaned up, several coastal sites still need additional cleaning, said Mitri. While the tests conducted by the ministry have