We may fret and worry about joint Libyan and BP plans to sink an oil well off our coast (and Libya‘s) but when it comes to public acclaim about a potential disaster little or no mention is made of Malta. Surprised? Here is Andrew Johnson writing in the Independent on Sunday (IOS, UK): BP Well Threatens Ancient Libyan Sites:
Plans by the energy giant BP to sink an oil well off the Libyan coast could have disastrous consequences for the region’s rich heritage of coastal ancient city sites and shipwrecks – already under threat from oil tankers, coastal erosion and tourist developments – archaeologists from around the world have warned. […]
BP has, however, announced that it intends to go ahead with plans to sink a well – which would be 200m deeper than the one in the Gulf of Mexico – around 125 miles off the coast of Libya. Work is due to begin before the end of the year. Archaeologists fear that an oil spill in the region could destroy the area’s numerous ancient coastal and underwater sites and that thousands of historic shipwrecks could be at additional risk from drilling activity.
These include the ancient harbour town of Apollonia, in Cyrenaica – which dates from the 7th century BC and is five metres below sea level – along with two ancient cities in the region of Tripolitania, both of which are World Heritage Sites. Claude Sintes, the director of the Museum of Ancient Arles in the south of France and director of the sub-aquatic team of the French archaeological mission to Libya, said that the sites are either on the beaches or underwater close to the shore. Washed-up oil would soak the porous stone and be impossible to clean, he added.
Quick. Someone tell them about Ghar Dalam, Hal Saflieni and NET TV.
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