While trying to deal with the rubble left by the Israeli war in the south of the country and the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Lebanese government is facing a crisis to avoid the environmental risks inherent in these rubble. The war left up to 8 million tons of rubble, after Israel destroyed up to 100,000 homes, in whole or in part, through the raids and systematic detonation out at a depth of 10 kilometers in the south, to secure the so-called yellow line. Within this line, Israel caused widespread destruction in about 60 villages and towns left by its residents. It also caused great damage in the southern suburbs of Beirut, whose rubble is being moved to the Costa Brava landfill, adjacent to Rafic Hariri International Airport, after the government added 13 new hectares to it (a hectare equals. 10 thousand square meters).
Transporting the rubble to Costa Brava would give Lebanon additional land, but it raises potential environmental problems because what is being transported to the landfill is considered relatively clean, not completely so, according to Hanna.
This rubble, considered practically clean, contains remnants of explosive materials dropped on homes, including ammonium nitrate (a key explosive component). Ammonium nitrate pollutes the sea and may also seep into the soil and reach groundwater, the military expert says.
Even if landfills built by reclaiming land from the Mediterranean coast increase Lebanon’s land area, they will simultaneously impose environmental costs that Hanna believes must be taken into account.
