Six months after oil spill, cleanup continues in Lebanon

Two weeks ago, the U.S. triumphantly proclaimed that a major oil-spill cleanup along Lebanon's coast was complete. Funny story, though: while the spill affected 93 miles of shoreline, the U.S.-led project gussied up a mere 68 of 'em. Described by Greenpeace as an "underwater nightmare," the slick stems from an Israeli bombing run in July that hit a Lebanese power plant, releasing 16,500 tons of fuel into the Mediterranean. Local and international teams spent months filling 36,000 bags with sludgy waste, and the rest of the work is expected to continue at least until summer. "In some places the ... sludge was [16 to 24 inches] thick," said Ahmed Kojok of the Sea of Lebanon association. "We were slicing it like cheese." Also cheesy: the U.S. press release, which hailed the training of 220 Lebanese by saying they "now possess a valuable skill and will be able to serve as experienced responders for future oil spill operations in Lebanon and internationally." So they've got that going for them.

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Oil spills from Japanese and Philippine tankers

It's been an oil-spillarific few days. A Japanese tanker, en route from Jordan, collided yesterday with a distressed cargo ship and spilled about 1.4 million gallons of crude into the eastern Indian Ocean. The ship's owner claims the spill has been contained and there's no need to clean it up, as the oil will naturally disperse into the sea. Um? A Philippine tanker sunk Friday, and the over half-million gallons of oil it was carrying have already created an oil slick over 17 miles long, the worst spill in Philippine history. The crud has reached the coastline of the island of Guimaras, which declared a "state of calamity"; a marine sanctuary on another island was tainted by crude oil four inches thick. Meanwhile, Lebanon will today begin mopping up the biggest spill in its history, which leaked into the Mediterranean Sea from a power plant bombed in mid-July and has tainted 87 miles of coastline. Oil. Love it!

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Oil spill and power-plant fire wreak havoc in already-havoc-stricken Lebanon

Bombed by Israel two weeks ago, a storage fuel tank of a power plant in Beirut, Lebanon, is still burning, filling the air with dangerous fumes; another exploded, sending at least 10,000 tons of oil into the Mediterranean Sea. Particulate pollution could waft as far as Europe, and winds have pushed the oil spill dozens of miles up the coast, blackening beaches and threatening marine life like the endangered green turtle and the commercially important blue fin tuna. Lebanon lacks the resources to extinguish the oil fire; if the second tank collapses, up to 15,000 more tons of fuel could seep into the sea. Lebanon has begged assistance from Kuwait, but the spill will take months and tens of millions of dollars to clean up. "This is a catastrophe I wouldn't wish on any country in the world," said Lebanese Environment Minister Yacoub Sarraf. Meanwhile, Israeli-blocked ports are leaving Lebanon mere days from running out of fuel for power plants.

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Sushi popularity means bad news for tuna, WWF warns

The popularity of sushi is sending tuna stocks into a downward spiral, says the World Wildlife Fund, warning that Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna will go extinct if commercial fishers continue hooking them at current rates. "The fishery is running out of control," WWF says in a new report. To keep up with ravenous sushi-eaters and other tuna chompers, fisherfolk are exceeding the legal catch quota set by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas by more than 40 percent, with an estimated catch of over 50,000 tons in 2005. WWF recommends shutting down commercial fishing for bluefin and implementing a recovery plan and management measures within the year in order to save the species. The European Union is also preparing a temporary ban on anchovy fishing in the Bay of Biscay because of depleted stocks. But really, who eats anchovies anyway?

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Drop in cork demand could endanger Mediterranean forests

What wine goes best with endangered forest? Perhaps a nice pinot gris? Mediterranean cork-oak forests provide 15 billion cork stoppers a year to the wine industry -- a sustainable enterprise, as cork is harvested from live trees rather than dead ones -- but plastic and screw-top closures are growing in popularity. A drop in the cork market could lead to poor forest management or abandonment, putting forests at heightened risk of desertification and forest fires, says WWF. The group is urging the wine industry to stick with cork, warning that otherwise three-quarters of the forests could be lost within 10 years. Cork harvesting supports tens of thousands of jobs, and cork forests support wildlife including the Iberian lynx, Barbary deer, and Imperial Iberian eagle. Synthetic closures currently hold 20 percent of the wine-stopper market, but WWF worries that figure could leap to 95 percent by 2015.

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One-third of Italy's most important cultural sites are in a state of emergency, according to the Italian environmental group Legambiente, which studied 36 areas in the country that have been designated World Heritage sites by the United Nations. The group said water pollution was threatening Venice, while smog and sprawl were damaging Naples, Florence, and Rome. It also said unregulated hotel development was scarring the Amalfi coast. The U.N. took issue with some of Legambiente's claims, but acknowledged that Cinque Terre, a series of farming and fishing villages on cliffs above the Mediterranean, was at risk because of rampant development.

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Ah, the Mediterranean: brilliant sun, snow-white sand, a smattering of paradisiacal islands in a glittering sea. That's the reputation that makes the region the most popular tourist destination in the world -- but sadly, the flood of tourists is rapidly unmaking the reputation. Every year, the region hosts 200 million visitors -- nearly one-third of the world's tourist flow, and more than a three-fold increase since 1970. Hotels, marinas, and cruise-ship ports have sprung up to accommodate them, effacing much of the region's famous coastline. Other environmental problems abound as well: Half the region's wastewater is dumped into the sea untreated, triggering algae blooms that create dead zones in the sea; almost 600,000 tons of oil are spilled into the blue waters every year, mostly from illegal cleaning of ship tanks; and commercial fish are declining from overfishing and habitat loss. "If we follow this trend, there will be no natural spaces left by the end of the century," said Lucien Chabason, coordinator of the U.N. Environment Programme's Mediterranean Action Program in Athens.

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As Philadelphia goes, so goes the nation