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<< Our Photo Pages >> Apollonia (Libya) - Ancient Village or Settlement in Libya | Submitted by AlexHunger on Tuesday, 14 September 2010 Page Views: 12738
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BP well threatens ancient Libyan sites (Score: 1)
by bat400 on Tuesday, 14 September 2010
(User Info | Send a Message) | coldrum has submitted this additional article --
Archaeologists fear the damage that oil platform could do to cities dating from the 7th century BC.
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.
Last week a report into the Gulf of Mexico blowout from BP blamed a "complex and interlinked" series of events, including human errors and mechanical failures, for the explosion that killed 11 engineers and led to the spill.
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. 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.
"They are very important sites and they are very fragile," he said. "If there is a problem with oil, like in the US, and it washes on to the shore it's going to be very difficult to clean the remains because the stones are porous. Apollonia is five metres under the water, and is complete with streets and buildings. In Tripolitania there are two important sites, Leptis Magna, a former Roman city, and Sabratha, where there is a theatre and mosaics. Some remains are on the beach and, if there was a leak, oil could wash up and certainly cause problems."
Dr Nic Flemming, a British archaeologist who first mapped Apollonia as a student in 1958, said, however, that the possibility of an oil spill ranked low among his concerns regarding dangers to ancient sites.
"It's a problem, but I would say it's 17th of a host of problems," he said. "Tankers already pump out bilge; there are already oil platforms; and ancient sites are being bulldozed because their coastal locations are so valuable. Countries sign up to protection treaties, but if somebody comes along with a lot of money and says 'I want to build a hotel that will create so many jobs', then the treaties are forgotten.
"I'm horrified by the changes over the past 30 years," he added. "I remember watching a town being bulldozed into the sea, complete with columns and mosaics, to make way for a new holiday resort. I hardly dare go to look at a site any more."
A BP spokesman said drilling will start later this year, adding that any leaked oil would float and that a full seismic survey had been carried out. He said plans for Libya had been reviewed in the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico leak.
For more, see the article in the Independent by Andrew Johnson. | [ Reply to This ]
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Archaeologists attack BP’s drilling plans off Libyaian coast (Score: 1)
by bat400 on Sunday, 12 September 2010
(User Info | Send a Message) | Submitted by coldrum --
From Greek and Roman shipwrecks to 20th-century warships; from ancient streets with intact buildings and mosaics to amphorae and ingots, the Mediterranean is a subaqueous treasure trove. So BP’s plans to drill exploratory oil wells off Libya has raised serious concerns among archaeologists, historians and heritage preservation organisations.
The global energy giant says that it will begin the $900m project to drill five exploratory wells in the Gulf of Sirte “before the end of this year” despite the fact that the cause of the blowout of its Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico has yet to be determined. The Libyan wells will be 200 metres deeper than the Macondo.
“An oil spill off the coast of Libya would be a complete disaster,” said Claude Sintes, the director of the subaquatic team of the French archaeological mission to Libya and director of the Museum of Ancient Arles, France. According to Sintes, there are two archaeologically rich areas along the Libyan coast—Cyrenaica and Tripolitania. Within Cyrenaica lies Apollonia, an ancient harbour submerged five metres under the water. “It’s a complete town under the sea with streets, walls and houses. Slow tectonic movement caused it to sink,” said Sintes.
Tripolitania, which extends from Tripoli to the Tunisian border, includes two important ancient sites on the shore: Leptis Magna, a once powerful Roman city and harbour, and Sabratha which has the remains of a theatre and a Roman bath with spectacular mosaics. Both are Unesco World Heritage sites. “These sites are archaeologically significant because they allow us to understand the complete evolution of this part of the world from Greek colonisation in the seventh century BC to the Arab invasion in the seventh century AD,” said Sines.
James Delgado, the president of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University, stressed the archaeological importance of the Mediterranean as a highway for ideas, trade and settlement, noting that thousands of wrecks from various historical periods lie within in its depth. “There is a complete record of thousands of years of history on the bottom of the Mediterranean,” said Delgado.
The biggest concern is that oil could congeal on the seabed, coating wood, stone and metal artefacts, hindering the recovery of traces of organics, pollens, DNA and “timbers so fragile that when excavated they have the consistency of ricotta cheese”, said Delgado. Sites such as Sabratha are so close to the shore that large waves often cover portions of the ruins. Oily waves could harm Sabratha’s delicate mosaics.
“I don’t think drilling should be allowed until sufficient studies are completed to ascertain the effects of oil movement in the water and the risks to historic shipwrecks and other underwater cultural heritage sites,” said Steven Anthony, the president of the Maritime Archaeological and Historical Society.
Robert Wine stressed that BP has conducted archaeological and seismic surveys off the coast of Libya and that its “oil spill plans for Libya have been reviewed in light of the Gulf of Mexico incident”. He also said they intend to drill many miles offshore, “well beyond any possible ancient sites”.
For more, see: http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Archaeologists+attack+BP%25E2%2580%2599s+drilling+plans/21319. | [ Reply to This ]
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