Beach pollution, Lebanon. Photo source: ©© Julie Davidson
Excerpts;
Lebanon’s coastline is changing dramatically, with new planned landfill sites that will extend hundreds of metres into the Mediterranean that, amazingly, seem to bother few politicians…
When Lebanon shut its largest rubbish dump in 2015, piles of refuse flooded the streets and public anger soon turned into mass protests against the government. The eventual solution, introduced last year, was to open two seaside dumps on the edge of Beirut.
Activists and waste management experts railed against the plan, warning that refuse and toxic materials could find their way into the sea and pose a significant health threat to people and marine life.
Those fears, although still relevant, were overshadowed by videos on social media showing lorries dumping waste from a decades-old landfill into the sea last month, and the admission by the environment minister that this was happening…
Read Full Article; Beirut’s beaches blighted by the rubbish crisis; The National (07-29-2017)
Lebanon ploughs the Mediterranean; Gulf News (07-21-2017)
Lebanon’s coastline is changing dramatically, with new planned landfill sites that will extend hundreds of metres into the Mediterranean that, amazingly, seem to bother few politicians. Many are persuaded that waste is inert though that is hardly the case with significant environmental damage that will leave an impact on future generations…
Lebanon dumps trash ‘100 times more toxic than raw sewage’ into the sea; StepFeed (06-20-2017)
Tons and tons of toxic waste is being dumped into the Mediterranean off the coast of Lebanon, according to environmental activists.This waste is “100 times more toxic than raw sewage,” Paul Abi Rached from the NGO Terre Liban said, according to The National. In the wake of Lebanon’s ongoing trash-crisis, which began in the summer of 2015, at least two million tons of toxic waste has been dumped into the Mediterranean, threatening to contaminate and eradicate sea life along the coast…
The lucrative history of Lebanese land reclamation; The Daily Star (07-19-2017)
A City Without a Shore: Rem Koolhaas, Dalieh and the Paving of Beirut’s Coast; (03-17-2015)
A development frenzy has wiped out the natural coastline of Lebanon, replacing it with concreted marinas and upscale resorts that are off-limits to the public. Now developers have their eye on the last bit of Beirut waterfront…
Lebanese shun pricey, polluted beaches for trips abroad; CTV News (09-28-2016)
In a country like Lebannon, stretching along the Mediterranean, finding a beach to relax in the summer, should not be a problem. But as private developers have gobbled up seafront land, and families complain of ever-more polluted waters, many Lebanese say it is cheaper and cleaner to fly abroad than go to the beach at home…
Lebanon: capital’s last public sand beach under threat? BBC News (11-26-2016)
