And we like it.

Elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa, environmental infractions have gone unnoticed for far too long. Do you know how many oil spills occurred in the Red Sea last year with nary a yawn from the outside world?

Neither do we, because it’s been so useless to try to convince successive Egyptian leaders that transparency is a good thing.

But the sultans and sheikhs of the Arabian peninsula have seen the writing in the sooty skies and rising seas. And they are starting to get serious.

The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) has cited 1,000 environmental violations in the first three months of 2013, Gulf News reports.

Nobody is going to be beheaded or hanged in public, which still happens in Saudi Arabia, but they will be held to account for their infractions with gentle, practical assistance from EAD inspectors.

The most common of these included issues with staff not being adequately trained for their positions, poor management of hazardous materials (yikes!), and underdeveloped emergency response protocols.

Also, more seriously in our view (well, my view), they have issued warnings and fines to companies that have stunted solid waste and waste water management systems.

In order to help established and new businesses and organizations get up to speed with their handling of natural resources and waste, the Abu Dhabi government has developed umpteen educational, marketing and regulatory systems.

“To enhance its inspections process, EAD has introduced an innovative system to record and monitor compliance at facilities and projects,” writes Gulf Today.

“It uses the Onsite Assessment, Compliance and Inspection System (OACIS) for the electronic collection, analysis and storage of data.”

Good! We hope it catches on.

:: Gulf Today

Image of a whole different kind of “green police,” Shutterstock

The post Abu Dhabi: Biggest Polluter Turned Green Police appeared first on Green Prophet.

Despite the best-laid laws, lack of enforcement is a leading cause of preventable environmental hazards in the Middle East. Egypt regularly has oil spills in the Nile and the Red Sea because of lax regulations. This week’s kerosene spill off Lebanon’s eastern Mediterranean (already an apocalypse zone in places) was caused when a pipeline transfering kerosene to oil and gas companies leaked. Last year, the country’s environmental ministry found several companies in breach of environmental law, but The Daily Star reports that none were taken to account.

The tanker carrying the kerosene leaked just north of Beirut last Wednesday, in the coastal town of Dora. 25,000 liters of contaminated water had to be pumped out.

Environment Minister Mohammad Rahhal told the paper that the problem was contained before spreading further into the sea, thanks to joint efforts by the Civil Defense and army.

Oil workers at the scene confirmed that the secondary duct on a ship carrying 21,000 tons of kerosene started leaking as it was transferring fuel between petroleum companies  Total and Medco.

Last year the environmental ministry requested oil companies in Lebanon to prove compliance of pollution laws, according to Rahhal. Investigators were also dispatched to inspect safety mechanisms.

Apart from Total, all of the companies investigated revealed breaches. Warnings were sent but Garbed Kazanjian from Greenpeace Mediterranean explains that the ministry’s lack of follow-up is partly to blame for continued accidents.

“They (oil companies) want to do things as cheaply as possible because there is no punishment,” he told The Daily Star. “It is not just limited to this accident. We are seeing leaks and other damage from lots of places on the coast. ”

Rahhal told the paper that oil companies will be required to pay for cleanup costs. Meanwhile, the head of the Association of Petroleum Importing Companies Maroun Shammas downplayed the seriousness of the link, and claimed that they are containing the leak.

:: Daily Star

More on Mediterranean and Lebanon:

Lebanon’s Mediterranean Apocalypse: Scuba Diving In Waters Devoid of Life

Mediterranean Countries Shut Down Coral Protection

Garbage Trucks Dump Straight Into Lebanon’s Sea

image via Thomko

The post Poor Environmental Oversight Leads To Lebanon’s Mediterranean Kerosene Leak appeared first on Green Prophet.