The Daily Star - British device offers opportunity to avert environmental disasters Skimmer will help reduce oil residue in Lebanese waters - October 27, 2010

BEIRUT: Those looking for a solution to Lebanon’s disastrously polluted coastline might not automatically head to an oil depot for salvation. But for one of the country’s 23 petroleum storage firms, a simple, British-made device provides an opportunity to avert environmental catastrophe. It comes in the form of a small, innocuous metal box.

The OPEC E-series MOP Skimmer, to give it its full title, is quite a contraption. Containing several layers of absorbent material which extracts oil from a depot’s waste water (not to mention millions of oil-eating bacteria), the skimmer has arrived in Lebanon to help reduce oil residue in sea water in line with recognized international standards.

The first model was formerly unveiled Tuesday at one of Beirut’s largest oil depots in Dora, an area flanked by a stretch of sea bejeweled with shimmering oil slicks.

Attending were representatives of the Environment Ministry as well as British Ambassador to Lebanon Frances Guy, who told The Daily Star that the MOP skimmer could spread affordable eco-friendly technology to Lebanon’s other oil storage facilities.

“Different representatives of different terminals are here and they seem to have demonstrated some concern over dealing with potential pollution that they are creating. This is very positive,” she said. “These inventions are simple, effective and not expensive, that people can put into operation to help make their operations cleaner along this coast.”

Simple and effective the skimmer may be, but it is not a new design. In fact, the latest weapon in Lebanon’s green fight is based on technology that is 30 years old.

Andy Kemp, general manager of ecological technology firm EPIQ, which helped install the skimmer in the Dora terminal, explained that many facilities lacked the technology to avoid dumping oil into the east Mediterranean. “This is the first of its kind in Lebanon but it is not a new design. The whole idea is to eliminate the discharge of oil and other people could do with the technology,” he said.

“In the end you are reducing the amount of oil that goes into the sea to minimal levels. In Lebanon, some [depots] discharge [oil waste] straight into the sea. Some don’t have any facilities at all, save for a small pit to collect oil which is then pumped out to sea.”

Several areas of Lebanon’s coastline are heavily contaminated by oil and other waste products pumped offshore by factories and commercial units. In July 2006, amid heavy Israeli bombardment of key infrastructure targets, Jiyeh’s oil-fired power station was bombed and 30,000 tons of fuel washed into the sea.
One man who knows the environmental practices of Lebanon’s oil depots is president of the Association of Petroleum Importing Countries Maroun Chammas who commended the skimmer’s performance.

“The recommendation is to use more sophisticated means to remove oil deposits which go into the sea and technology like this can help this process,” Chammas said.

But not everyone is convinced about oil companies’ newfound ecological streak. Garabed Kazanjian, oceans campaigner for Greenpeace Mediterranean, said Lebanon’s oil industry was one of the country’s worst polluters.

“All excess oil [at depots] is channeled into the sea and this is one of the major forms of pollution,” he said. “There is no major monitoring process done by the Government to see if ships or companies are conforming to certain environmental standards.”

Kazanjian cautiously welcomed technology such as the skimmer to Lebanon’s shores, but insisted that devices of its kind did not offer a cure to polluted seas.

“We are glad this process has started in Lebanon but it’s not going to amend the issue. We would like to see [oil companies] follow up on this,” he said.

Guy remained optimistic that Tuesday’s demonstration of how to avoid oil parts per million breaking 15 – the maximum safe concentration, already surpassed in several areas – in water along Lebanon’s seaboard.

“Representatives of [petroleum companies] Total and Medco are here today and that’s a start. They’ve seen how efficient this is and they can pick up ideas,” Guy said. “There is some interest in this technology in this area where they are beginning to recognize that the negative effects of oil need to be dealt with.”

Talking more about marine pollution was in line with increasing environmental awareness at a national level, Guy added.

“We are still a little in a culture [in Lebanon] of throwing rubbish out of your car window. I can remember when that was a problem [in the UK]. We are doing public awareness campaigns and it’s unfortunately part of the overall culture to think of today and not care what the results are. That is beginning to change and hopefully it will now accelerate,” she said.