[Coral-List] Scientists letter to stop medred

Tue Jan 5 15:36:28 UTC 2021

Dear Elinor,

Create an Online petition (e.g. AVAAZ org Or  CHANGE.org)  and share the
link on the Coral-List so you can get further Support. Science has proven
the high ecological, social an economic value of coral reefs, so all as
strong community should be supportive.

In Colombia, we got 500 e-signatures in a week in 2016, when asking with an
official letter addressed to President Santos to stop other dredging plans
in Varadero. After that week, we were contacted by the Presidency assigning
to the National License Authority to reply our petition. Fortunately, the
new director of that Agency was a classmate marine biologist from the
Universidad Tadeo Lozano, and she replied that they will review carefully
any new request asking for dredging permits on Varadero !!

El dom, ene 3, 2021 11:40, Elinor Nadir via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> escribió:

> A forwarded letter (attachment pasted in text) to all scientists who don't
> want the corals in the northern red sea to be destroyed. Please help us
> save our reef. Forward as widely as possible.
>
>
> Hello all,
>
> Attached to this email is a scientist's letter against turning Eilat into
> an oil and gas terminal (a.k.a, the Med-Red initiative). The letter was
> written in part by Prof. Maoz Fine, Dr. Yehiam Shlesinger, and Prof. Nadav
> Shashar. Please, read this letter, and if you are touched and
> have/currently achieving a Ph.D., send an email back to the following
> addresses (tzofitkd at gmail.com and Youval at zalul.org.il), with your name and
> area of expertise. I emphasize that your name will appear in the letter.
>
> It is easy, during this crazy era, to fall into apathy. However, if the oil
> transport will be renewed in the Gulf, potential devastating damage will
> challenge our beloved reef, work environment, Eilat city (which many of us
> call home), and the sights our children will witness in the upcoming years.
> Scientist's letters can have major impacts on decision-makers. Let's do our
> best.
>
> I personally thank you if you sign this letter and forward it to your Ph.D.
> candidates and colleagues.
>
> All the best,
>
> Na'ama-Rose.
>
>
> SCIENTISTS' LETTER
>
> We, the undersigned, are scientists voicing an urgent call to prevent the
> renewal of the EAPC pipeline activity and Eilat and Ashqelon's conversion
> to petroleum ports. We gather from a wide range of professional disciplines
> relevant to environmental protection, both marine and terrestrial. We are
> coral reefs experts, marine biologists, geologists, ecologists,
> geographers, economists, and urban planners.
>
> As these words are being written, a new initiative is in the works to
> transport petroleum from the Persian Gulf states to Eilat, from there to
> Mediterranean ports, and onward to Europe, via the infrastructure of EAPC.
> According to the plan1, every year dozens of huge tankers will unload their
> petroleum and distillate contents at the EAPC pier, which borders the Eilat
> Coral Reef Nature Reserve. From there, these materials will flow through
> antiquated pipelines for the entire length of the Arava and Negev deserts
> to the Ashqelon depot, where they will be transferred to tankers bound for
> Europe. This deal exposes the entire Gulf of Eilat / Aqaba, the Sinai
> coasts and coral reefs, as well as the Mediterranean coast and the
> landmasses in between, to huge danger, be it from leaks, accidents, or
> intentional sabotage, events which are just a matter of time in this
> volatile part of the world.
>
> According to EAPC's statements, the agreement would provide up to 120
> mega-tankers (250 thousand tons) each year2, anchoring, and transporting
> petroleum via Eilat and Ashqelon piers. One "minor" accident or sabotage on
> one tanker would be enough to cause a major ecological disaster in the
> Mediterranean, especially in the Red Sea. For example, a spill of "only" 1%
> of a tanker's contents to the sea – which amounts to thousands of barrels
> of oil3 – would spread to the entire gulf. Oil would completely cover the
> coasts and reefs of Eilat, Aqaba, and the Sinai.
>
> Due to the richness of their life forms and biological diversity, coral
> reefs are the world's undersea "rain forests". In the 1970s, Eilat's coral
> reefs were nearly eradicated by the intensive activity of EACP tankers, and
> in the ensuing 40 years, they have only barely recovered. A few months ago,
> the reef was again damaged by severe storms. It would not survive the
> additional insult of a major tanker spill!
>
> The northern Red Sea corals are considered unique on a world scale. Due to
> their genetic makeup, they are resistant to the damage caused by sea
> temperature rise that is occurring worldwide due to the climate crisis,
> which causes reef bleaching and death. Therefore, Eilat's corals may well
> serve as a source for other reefs' rehabilitation throughout the planet,
> but they would certainly not survive petroleum pollution.
>
> An oil spill on the sea surface prevents the transfer of atmospheric oxygen
> to the sea. The heavy petroleum particles sink, mix, and are strewn
> throughout the water column. Plankton-eating fish swallow these particles,
> which enter body tissues and subsequently the entire food chain. Petroleum
> compounds in the water cause carcinogenic processes and damage to the
> reproductive systems and the growth of juvenile stages of many marine life
> forms. Moreover, the spill kills marine birds and mammals caught in the
> area. The oil adheres to their bodies, solidifies, and turns to sticky tar
> that destroys sea birds' ability to fly and suffocates life forms such as
> dolphins and shellfish. Direct contact between the oil spill and body
> tissues causes damage to the entire marine ecology, and the damage is even
> more severe to the sensitive coastal reefs.
>
> The coral reserve lies only a few hundred meters from the tankers' proposed
> sea lane and the pier. Such proximity between oil tankers and a nature
> reserve has no precedent anywhere on the planet. Due to the strong onshore
> winds in the gulf, any oil pollution would quickly reach the coasts and the
> reef. Additionally, the greater the traffic, the greater the need for the
> tankers to line-up and wait, increasing the chance of sabotage and a
> steering mistake, both can lead to an oil spill. In addition, the Gulf of
> Aqaba is susceptible to earthquakes. Eliat ports region can be the
> epicenter of the next large earthquake, while EAPC old piers and pipes
> infrastructure were bullied before modern standards for seismic hazards
> resistance were appley in Israel.
>
> Moreover, the coral reefs' richness is the heart of the natural environment
> and tourism in this area, drawing millions of tourists each year to Eilat,
> Aqaba, and Sinai. Every tanker is a spill threat, which could wipe out the
> tourist cities of Eilat (Israel), Aqaba (Jordan), and Sinai (Egypt). The
> three nations have invested billions of dollars and built thousands of
> hotel rooms and new airports, all of which would be laid to waste by a
> major pollution event. Nowhere else on the globe is there such proximity of
> tankers discharging oil into tourist sites and bathing beaches.
>
> Over the years, the EACP pipeline from Eilat to Ashqelon has been the site
> and source of grave ecological disasters, notably Evrona and Nahal Zin,
> among other events. Increasing the volume of oil flowing in the overland
> pipeline increases the exposure of ecologically sensitive areas and nature
> reserves to damage from which they will not manage to recover. In the 2014
> Evrona disaster, a "mere" 5000 m3 of oil was spilled. Any event of this
> scale – and the proposed plan is an invitation to disaster, sooner or later
> – would be exponentially worse on the sea.
>
> In the Ashqelon depot, an oil spill would halt the desalination plants'
> activity, which supplies most of Israel's drinking water. A severe leak
> would pollute the Mediterranean coast along many kilometers and harm
> commerce and other vital infrastructures.
>
> A severe oil spill in Eilat would damage thousands of families'
> livelihoods, and billions of dollars of investment in the Gulf of Aqaba's
> tourism infrastructure would be erased. The Eilat municipality has approved
> impressive plans for developing tourism and other seaborn enterprises for
> the local population4 over the coming years. All will be for naught when
> the oil starts to flow. Eilat, which was selected as one of the most
> beautiful gulf cities in the world, will become an oil and gas port, bereft
> of tourists, with rising morbidity.
>
> Every person who treasures the Red Sea must stand up and express their
> opposition to this plan. From the point of view of damage control, EACP and
> its partners will gain immense profits, with no risk, while the city of
> Eilat will bear all the risks, especially the risk of inestimable damage to
> the city's primary source of subsistence, with marginal gain at best.
>
> We call on the Israeli government to consider the potentially numerous and
> grave dangers this plan poses and stop its implementation by EACP.
>
> Please help us save the Gulf and the Red Sea by openly opposing this plan.
> The day after disaster there will be nothing to save.
>
> 1 – Agreement/memorandum signed between EAPC and Med-Red Land Bridge. Lior
> Gutman, Calcalist, 20.10.20; Tsafrir Rinat, Haaretz, 21.10.20.
>
> 2 – According to EACP agreement publication, annual pipeline capacity would
> be 30 million cubic meters = 120 tankers of 250 thousand DWT, the upper
> load limit for the Ashqelon depot (according to EACP website the
> Eilat-Ashkelon oil pipe annual capacity is 60 million tons).  The unloading
> capacity of the tankers at Eilat depot and the loading capacity at Ashqelon
> are 20 and 10 cubic meters per hour, respectively, meaning 30 million tons
> annually  can be borne via Israel. However, the present bottleneck is the
> result of the rest of the EAPC marine infrastructure (towboats. etc) and
> lack of deployment by the Ministry of Environmental Protection Marine
> Division in case of a spill disaster at these loads, especially in Ashqelon
> but also in Eilat.
>
> 3 – 1% of 250 thousand tons at a density of 0.9 tons per cubic meter is
> equal to 17,470 barrels of oil (each barrel containing 159 liters of oil).
>
> 4 – For instance use of natural substances, production of pharmaceuticals
> from the waters of the gulf through research and development of marine
> biotechnology.
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