Selaata, North Lebanon, 11 October 1999 - Greenpeace activists and the media were today assaulted by the police and guards, and shots were fired by the Lebanese military, during a peaceful protest at the dock of the major polluter in Lebanon, the Lebanese Chemical Company (LCC). Greenpeace is opposing the ecological crimes committed by this company which daily discharges toxic sludge into the Mediterranean.
Following the arrival of the Rainbow Warrior in Selaata, 20 Greenpeace activists climbed the dock of LCC and attempted to hang banners reading: "Save our seas", "Ratify Barcelona Protocols NOW", and "Deep Trouble". However, in the process, the Greenpeace activists and media were attacked by the police and guards whilst the military fired shots in the air. Two of the Greenpeace activists were badly injured one with a broken arm and the other suffering a back injury. Journalists from the TV stations LBC (Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation) and MTV (Middle East Television) were also viciously attacked. The camera recording footage for the international news agency AP (Associated Press) was completely destroyed.
"The industry in Lebanon regards the Mediterranean Sea as its own private toxic sewer. This has to stop immediately. The Lebanese authorities must take steps to end this abuse and the industry must take full responsibility for the environmental crimes being committed. The government must ratify the Barcelona Convention and follow with legislation that will effectively safeguard the marine environment and eliminate the existing risks to public heath," said Zeina al-Hajj, Lebanon Campaigner of Greenpeace Mediterranean.
According to the scientific report published by Exeter Lab from samples collected from the effluents at LCC: "the levels of Vanadium in this wastewater, the acidic H, and the potential release of significant levels of phosphorus warrant concern." Greenpeace took samples from the LCC effluents directly discharging into the sea. Test results carried out at the Greenpeace International laboratories, at Exeter University in England, show that this sample also contained toxic heavy metals, scientifically proven to pose direct threats to public health as well as further destruction to the environment. (1)
Greenpeace also filed a compliant against LCC and presented this to the judicial authority in northern Lebanon asking them to investigate the pollution caused by the factory and to take the necessary steps to prosecute the polluters.
Lebanon is allowing LCC to violate the spirit of the regional Barcelona Convention and its 1995 protocol that bans land-based sources of toxic pollution into the Mediterranean. Greenpeace demands that the Lebanese government must ratify this protocol, and force the industry to apply the precautionary principle, a measure to safeguard public health where potential damage may result as a consequence to polluting industrial activities. (2)
Greenpeace demands that Mediterranean governments must ratify the convention and its ancillary protocols as amended, to allow the convention to enter into force by March 2000. (3)
Notes to editors:
1. Test results carried out at the Greenpeace International laboratories at Exeter University in England showed that this sample contained toxic heavy metals such as vanadium, zinc and copper. Vanadium was found at a concentration of 4 mg/l. Significant releases of vanadium are due to the processing of phosphate rock, which is used to manufacture phosphoric acid and phosphate fertilizers.
Vanadium can accumulate in marine organisms, including fish, and can cause impacts on metabolism and health following long term exposure. Humans consuming contaminated fish can then ingest this vanadium. Although little is known about the long-term consequences of this, minor birth defects have been observed in experiments with laboratory animals. The effluent sample contained molecular sulphur.
2. European Union (EU) legislation for the protection of the Mediterranean (decision 83/101/EEC) against land-based sources of pollution lists vanadium in annex 2. Therefore, as is the case in zinc and copper, direct discharges into the sea or indirect ones via rivers and canals must be strictly limited. Also listed in Annex 2 of this EU directive are acid compounds and inorganic compounds of phosphorus and elemental phosphorus.
1.Ratification has to come early enough in the year 2000 to allow the countries to formulate the phase-out schedules they themselves agreed to create by March of the same year. No ratification will render the agreement null and void.
