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Red Sea decline
Volume I 1/Number 5/May 1980
Red Sea decline Pollution in the Red Sea is reaching a critical level, according to a report by the Tunis-based Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALESCO). The report warns that urgent steps are needed to control oil pollution, otherwise damage to marine organisms and their ecosystem may be irreparable. ALESCO identify four main sources of pollution in the Red Sea: domestic sewage, industrial wastes, pollution created by dredging operations, and oil contamination by tankers, pipelines and refineries. The organization have monitored pollution levels in the Red Sea since 1974, and they have worked with various other major conservationist groups since 1975. Their efforts to keep the Sea clean have succeeded in keeping pollution below critical levels, and it is still one of the cleanest seas in the world. But now the economic boom in Saudi Arabia has resulted in increased oil and industrial waste discharges into the Sea. An even more serious threat is that of radioactive wastes from nuclear plants in Saudi Arabia, and a further threat comes from sea-bed mining activities due to begin in the Red Sea over the next few months. The Saudi-Sudanese Commission for the Development of Red Sea Resources has already completed preliminary studies on the exploitation of metalliferous muds from the Red Sea. The chief pollutants will be chemicals used in the flotation process, and suspended muds from the sea bed. There is danger that these could drift to parts of the sea that are rich in marine life. ALESCO hope to establish several marine research stations around the coast of the Red Sea in the next five years. Four stations are already functioning. The group is also involved in the drafting of legal measures for the protection of the Sea. Mr E. M. Re faat, the co-ordinator of the group's Red Sea programmes, said:" Most of the hurdles to the protection of the Red Sea are political. It is our hope that the current problems will not reduce our success rate."
Anger in Brittany Angry protests are being made by the inhabitants of Brittany, over the French government's delay in dealing with the oil flow from the wrecked tanker Tanio, which sank in the Channel on March 7. A 100-mile slick formed along some of France's most beautiful coastlines, including the popular holiday resort of Tregastel, one of the area's pink granite beaches, which has been covered in heavy fuel oil. The area is now part of a major clean-up operation led by Jacques Lesven, who helped in the clean-up after the Amoco Cadiz disaster. The Amoco Cadiz, which sank two years ago in the same area, was the worst of its kind, and the government drew up plans to ensure that no such event would occur again.
Ships were forced to take longer, safer routes around the coast, and procedures were made to stop oil coming ashore in case of an accident. When the Tanio broke in two in the Channel, there was no question of there having been a navigational error. The oil was so thick it had to be heated to 50°C so that it could be pumped. However it was too thick for the available dispersants, and when it did come ashore there was a long delay before the land part of the protection plan was authorized by the Prefecture. The reasons for the delay were firstly that it would cost the State a lot of money, and more importantly that it would attract a lot of bad publicity to an area that relies heavily on the tourist trade. But the people of the region, including hotel owners as well as conservationists, have covered the streets and hillsides with slogans, and recently five dustbins of Tanio oil scooped up from the beaches were dumped outside the Elys~e Palace. Local anger has also been increased by plans for a 5,200 MW power station on the Pointe du Raz.
Ixtoc I Stopped The world's greatest oil spill came to an end on 24 March when the Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) Ixtoc I well was finally capped by the Red Adair Company of Houston, Texas. The offshore well in Campeche Bay blew out on 3 June, 1979, and spewed oil and gas for 295 days, initially at 30,000 barrels a day, then at 10,000 barrels from mid August to mid November, at 4,000 barrels a day from 16 November to 30 November, and then at 2,000 barrels from 1 December to 5 March, 400 barrels from 6-14 March and negligible amounts until the well was finally sealed. The total amount of oil lost is estimated on these figures to have been about 140 million gallons. Much of the oil was lost by burning or evaporation, but PEMEX estimates that 28.5°7o of it formed a slick which during August and September affected the Texas coast. PEMEX is reported to have spent $133.5 million on bringing the well under control and various environmental protection measures including dispersant spraying, oil recovery and beach cleaning. The high cost is due to the length of time the well was out of control and the variety of measures that had to be taken in attempts to cap it. In the end, this required boring two relief wells. Garcia Luna, the PEMEX co-ordinator of operations at the well, has explained that at one time it was proposed to use the two relief wells as production wells, but it now seems that these will be capped also. There have been many claims about the damage caused by the oil. The Mexican National Confederation of Fisheries Co-operatives claims that large quantities of fish and other exploitable marine life have been damaged, but according to PEMEX, fish catches in Mexico have been good this year. Monitoring of biological effects of the oil spill will continue, however. The chief loser appears to have been the tourist industry which appears to have suffered on the Texas coast and in the affected coastal areas of Mexico. The PEMEX spokesman claimed that this was largely due to exaggerated press reports of the impact of the spill. I15
Red Sea decline Pollution in the Red Sea is reaching a critical level, according to a report by the Tunis-based Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALESCO). The report warns that urgent steps are needed to control oil pollution, otherwise damage to marine organisms and their ecosystem may be irreparable. ALESCO identify four main sources of pollution in the Red Sea: domestic sewage, industrial wastes, pollution created by dredging operations, and oil contamination by tankers, pipelines and refineries. The organization have monitored pollution levels in the Red Sea since 1974, and they have worked with various other major conservationist groups since 1975. Their efforts to keep the Sea clean have succeeded in keeping pollution below critical levels, and it is still one of the cleanest seas in the world. But now the economic boom in Saudi Arabia has resulted in increased oil and industrial waste discharges into the Sea. An even more serious threat is that of radioactive wastes from nuclear plants in Saudi Arabia, and a further threat comes from sea-bed mining activities due to begin in the Red Sea over the next few months. The Saudi-Sudanese Commission for the Development of Red Sea Resources has already completed preliminary studies on the exploitation of metalliferous muds from the Red Sea. The chief pollutants will be chemicals used in the flotation process, and suspended muds from the sea bed. There is danger that these could drift to parts of the sea that are rich in marine life. ALESCO hope to establish several marine research stations around the coast of the Red Sea in the next five years. Four stations are already functioning. The group is also involved in the drafting of legal measures for the protection of the Sea. Mr E. M. Re faat, the co-ordinator of the group's Red Sea programmes, said:" Most of the hurdles to the protection of the Red Sea are political. It is our hope that the current problems will not reduce our success rate."
Anger in Brittany Angry protests are being made by the inhabitants of Brittany, over the French government's delay in dealing with the oil flow from the wrecked tanker Tanio, which sank in the Channel on March 7. A 100-mile slick formed along some of France's most beautiful coastlines, including the popular holiday resort of Tregastel, one of the area's pink granite beaches, which has been covered in heavy fuel oil. The area is now part of a major clean-up operation led by Jacques Lesven, who helped in the clean-up after the Amoco Cadiz disaster. The Amoco Cadiz, which sank two years ago in the same area, was the worst of its kind, and the government drew up plans to ensure that no such event would occur again.
Ships were forced to take longer, safer routes around the coast, and procedures were made to stop oil coming ashore in case of an accident. When the Tanio broke in two in the Channel, there was no question of there having been a navigational error. The oil was so thick it had to be heated to 50°C so that it could be pumped. However it was too thick for the available dispersants, and when it did come ashore there was a long delay before the land part of the protection plan was authorized by the Prefecture. The reasons for the delay were firstly that it would cost the State a lot of money, and more importantly that it would attract a lot of bad publicity to an area that relies heavily on the tourist trade. But the people of the region, including hotel owners as well as conservationists, have covered the streets and hillsides with slogans, and recently five dustbins of Tanio oil scooped up from the beaches were dumped outside the Elys~e Palace. Local anger has also been increased by plans for a 5,200 MW power station on the Pointe du Raz.
Ixtoc I Stopped The world's greatest oil spill came to an end on 24 March when the Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) Ixtoc I well was finally capped by the Red Adair Company of Houston, Texas. The offshore well in Campeche Bay blew out on 3 June, 1979, and spewed oil and gas for 295 days, initially at 30,000 barrels a day, then at 10,000 barrels from mid August to mid November, at 4,000 barrels a day from 16 November to 30 November, and then at 2,000 barrels from 1 December to 5 March, 400 barrels from 6-14 March and negligible amounts until the well was finally sealed. The total amount of oil lost is estimated on these figures to have been about 140 million gallons. Much of the oil was lost by burning or evaporation, but PEMEX estimates that 28.5°7o of it formed a slick which during August and September affected the Texas coast. PEMEX is reported to have spent $133.5 million on bringing the well under control and various environmental protection measures including dispersant spraying, oil recovery and beach cleaning. The high cost is due to the length of time the well was out of control and the variety of measures that had to be taken in attempts to cap it. In the end, this required boring two relief wells. Garcia Luna, the PEMEX co-ordinator of operations at the well, has explained that at one time it was proposed to use the two relief wells as production wells, but it now seems that these will be capped also. There have been many claims about the damage caused by the oil. The Mexican National Confederation of Fisheries Co-operatives claims that large quantities of fish and other exploitable marine life have been damaged, but according to PEMEX, fish catches in Mexico have been good this year. Monitoring of biological effects of the oil spill will continue, however. The chief loser appears to have been the tourist industry which appears to have suffered on the Texas coast and in the affected coastal areas of Mexico. The PEMEX spokesman claimed that this was largely due to exaggerated press reports of the impact of the spill. I15