BEIRUT: The Energy and Water Ministry and Electricite du Liban Friday rebuffed complaints about the level of pollution produced by the Zouk power plant, saying emissions had been reduced by 80 percent since the authorities installed a filtration system in the smoke stacks. Speaking at a news conference at Zouk plant, Energy Minister Arthur Nazarian […]

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BEIRUT: The Naameh waste landfill, long reviled by locals and the environmental community, will shut down on July 17, about 18 years after it opened, the environment minister announced Tuesday. “The Naameh landfill will close July 17,” Mohammad Machnouk told the mayors of Al-Shahar and Al-Gharbi municipalities in Mount Lebanon, adding that the dump would […]

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BEIRUT: Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk and Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas signed Monday a memorandum of understanding that will see their ministries collaborate on tackling the environmentalimpact of the refugee crisis. The presence of around 1.1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon has brought unprecedented environmental problems to the country and overwhelmed infrastructure. The refugee population, […]

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by Hana Namrouqa | May 03, 2015 AMMAN — Random pumping of underground water has exceeded the safe yield, particularly after 2011 when the Syria crisis started, according to recent studies on aquifers in Jordan. The studies, carried out by the Water Ministry in cooperation with international institutions, indicated that levels of underground water in […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 05/05/2015 Joseph Shapira criticized the office for failing to both update regulations on the subject and finish classifying factories according to potential damage level. State Comptroller Joseph Shapira slammed the Environmental Protection Ministry’s handling of stationary air pollution sources – such as power plants, quarries and industrial sites – in his latest […]

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Ministry rarely uses legal means at its disposal to enforce compliance with Israel’s anti-pollution laws, according to state comptroller’s report. By Zafrir Rinat | May 6, 2015 Israel’s state comptroller’s office found that the Environmental Protection Ministry failed in its monitoring of industrial pollution. According to the comptroller’s report released on Tuesday, the ministry rarely […]

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Mohammed Zaatari| The Daily Star TYRE, Lebanon: Tyre Beach Nature Reserve, along the coast of the southern city, is known for being the site where, every year without fail, sea turtles come to the shore to lay their eggs. Ahead of National Sea Turtle Day, the manager of the reserve, Hasan Hamza, explained that turtles […]

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Ghinwa Obeid| The Daily Star BEIRUT: Introducing climate change education in Lebanon is key to assessing its impacts and building more sustainable communities, experts agreed Tuesday, amid a regional conference dedicated to the issue. Schools and universities are considered a starting point for climate change education, and the participants of the Regional Experts Meeting on […]

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James Denselow James Denselow is a writer on Middle East politics and security issues and a research associate at the Foreign Policy Centre. @JamesDenselow As we peer through the fog of war into the heart of the Middle East we see ISIL on the back foot in Iraq and on the front foot in Syria. […]

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by Sonia Farid | Special to Al Arabiya News Sunday, 3 May 2015 The capsizing of a ship carrying 500 tons of phosphate in the Nile has sent shockwaves across Egypt. As a state of emergency has been declared and an investigation committee established, concerns keep escalating about the impact of the spill on crops, […]

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Fishermen blame pollution, Aswan Dam for dwindling fish populations; Greens say new restrictions are insufficient. By Zafrir Rinat | Apr. 26, 2015 Restrictions will soon be imposed on commercial fishing in the Mediterranean Sea in order to stem the decline in fish populations, the state promised the High Court of Justice this month. Certain fishing […]

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HEBRON, April 29, 2015 (WAFA) – The Israeli authorities Wednesday notified local residents of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, of their intention to demolish a number of water wells used by locals for drinking and irrigation in the area, according to local sources. Coordinator of the Anti-Settlement Committee in Hebron, Rateb Jabour, said an army […]

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Sarah Weatherbee| The Daily Star BEIRUT: Lebanon witnessed an exceptionally wet winter in contrast to the severe drought which the country saw last year, a development which many hoped would help solve the country’s chronic water shortage. But according to Roland Riachi, a postdoctoral fellow at the Issam Fares Institute, Lebanon’s water crisis won’t be […]

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by Hana Namrouqa | Apr 30, 2015 AMMAN — The Jordan Valley Farmers Union is arranging to file a lawsuit against Israel at international courts for the recurring fires that erupt on the Israeli-Jordanian borderline and damage thousands of agricultural lands annually, JVFU President Adnan Khaddam said Wednesday. Farmers who own lands adjacent to the […]

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BEIRUT: Jbeil’s politicians highlighted Thursday the need to limit health and environmental damages caused by a landfill in the town of Hbaline. Amchit and other neighboring towns like Hbaline and Gherfine have long been suffering from the hazardous effects of the landfill, Amchit Mayor Antoine Issa said, vowing to stop it. Issa and environmental activist […]

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Geagea vows no let-up in Zouk pollution fight – Daily Star BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea Monday pledged to continue fighting against the decades-old pollution emitted from the Zouk Mikael power plant. “Action will not stop and we will continue [to lobby against the pollution from the plant] until all our demands concerning are […]

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Comprehensive study centered around the new findings regarding the consequences of pollution in 53 European countries and in Israel. By Zafrir Rinat | Apr. 29, 2015 According to a comprehensive study by the World Health Organization, which is scheduled to be presented Wednesday in Haifa, in Europe and Israel there are 482,000 cases of premature […]

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Apr 30, 2015 | 00:32 AMMAN — Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for an electricity generation mega-project. Implemented by the Amman-Asia Electric Power Company, the multi-fuel run electricity plant, coded IPP3, will have the production capacity of 573MW, making it the largest internal combustion […]

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AMMAN — The capital is scheduled to host the “Jordan International Energy Summit and Exhibition” next month to discuss challenges and opportunities related to the country’s energy needs, organisers said Monday. The summit provides an official platform for local firms to become acquainted with relevant international companies, and to highlight current and future energy projects […]

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The 200-meter stretch of coastline has been off-limits for almost 50 years. By Zafrir Rinat | Apr. 27, 2015 After almost 50 years in which the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company has had exclusive use of some of Eilat’s beaches, part of that coastline will now be returned to the public and designated as a nature […]

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