An action plan to assist the authorities in Lebanon with the clean-up of coastal oil pollution and to prevent any spread to neighbouring countries was agreed on August 17 at a meeting in Athens convened by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
A joint statement issued on behalf of the IMO and UNEP said United Nations officials and experts, along with countries in the region and the European Commission, backed a plan aimed at dealing with an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes of fuel oil that seeped into the Mediterranean Sea from a damaged power utility 30km south of Beirut, following Israeli bombing between July 13 and 15.