USAID Awards Additional Funding for Oil Spill Clean Up in Lebanon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2007
Press Office: 202-712-4320
Public Information: 202-712-4810
www.usaid.gov
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), have launched Phase 2 of an oil spill clean-up program designed to remove the remaining residue from 24 sites along a nearly 50 mile stretch of the northern Lebanese shoreline. USAID is carrying out the activities in close collaboration with the Lebanese Ministry of Environment. The oil spill occurred in July 2006.
USAID awarded a $740,000 contract for Phase 2 of the oil spill clean up to Promar Marine Contracting, a Lebanese firm, to perform final polishing of the rocky shoreline with pressure washers, remove submerged tar from coastal waters, and safely dispose of the contaminated waste.
Last year under Phase 1, the oil spill clean-up focused on initial efforts to remove more than 123,600 cubic feet of oil contaminated waste from the northern shoreline and pressure wash areas of high economic importance, such as the historic Byblos Marina, a World Heritage Site.
"We, as citizens of Byblos, are glad for feeling the excellent human relation that happened spontaneously between both Lebanese and Americans," said the General Manager of a Byblos hotel after Phase 1 of the clean-up. "We will be more than happy to keep contact with you, as true friends and welcomed guests in a peaceful and clean Byblos in Lebanon."
"Thanks to your precious contribution, our organization has been able to overcome an extremely difficult and delicate situation and resume activity in the shortest possible time," said the Association Cooperative of Fishermen of the Port of Jbeil.
For more information on USAID's efforts in the region, as well as before and after photos of the oil spill clean up in Lebanon, please visit www.usaid.gov/locations/asia_near_east/middle_east/.
The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for nearly 50 years.
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