Lebanon's Month-Old Oil Slick Sinks

In this photo released by Greenpeace Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2006, a crab covered with oil, is seen on the coast near the seaport of Tabarja, northern Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2006, which is heavily polluted by oil, as a result of the Israeli bombing mid-July of the Jiyeh power plant, south of Beirut. After a month slathered over waters off Lebanon's coast, an oil spill unleashed by Israeli bombardment has started sinking to the sea floor _ blanketing marine life with a tar-like sludge, experts and the U.N. said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Greenpeace, Jeroen Oerlemans) (Jeroen Oerlemans - AP)

On Monday, Israel granted the U.N. permission to fly over Lebanon's coast to do an aerial survey of the spill, and flights were expected to begin within days, Nuttall said.

Finland on Tuesday said it would send nearly $800,000 to help with the operation and urged other EU countries to join in. Cleaning equipment has already arrived from Norway, and more was on the way from France, Nuttall said.

Removing the thick sludge from the sea floor would require remote-controlled underwater vehicles, or dredging devices towed behind a floating vessel motoring up and down the coast, said Steiner, who was contracted by the Lebanese government to help.

With an Israeli naval blockade still in place, that large of an operation on Lebanon's coast _ with divers and boats to move against the spill _ would be possible only with Israeli permission.

Nuttall said he was optimistic such access would be granted. "We have assurances from the Israeli authorities," he said.

The U.N. overflights would gauge the amount of oil still floating on top of the water, and estimate damage to Lebanon's shoreline. But Steiner said the amount of oil that has submerged was still unknown _ and dangerous.

"If we don't get this stuff out of the water, a month or six months from now, this it will probably pop back to the surface ... . We could see huge tar balls washing up on shores of the Mediterranean for years to come," he said.

The spill appeared to be staying along the Lebanese and Syrian coasts. Mediterranean currents had pushed the oil northward toward Syria, closing beaches there, Steiner said. To the south, Israel's environment ministry said Tuesday, no traces had been spotted on Israeli shores. North of Syria, Turkish authorities also said the slick had not reached their shores.

With 20 years experience cleaning up oil spills, Steiner said the dense fuel sludge posed a special challenge.

"Every single oil spill is unique, but this one was caused by an act of war ... . But I'm not even sure that even if we'd had all the equipment in the world and access, we would have been able to contain this," he said. "Once the oil hits the water, it's too late."