Environment Ministry signs pollutant management agreement

The Ministry of Environment (MoE) signed on Tuesday a cooperation agreement with Electricité du Liban (EDL) to carry out a plan for the management of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the electricity sector and the implementation of a national strategy to remove pollutants, known as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

The project aims to dispose of contaminated equipment and enhance the capacity of the MoE and EDL to manage and provide support for the project.

The agreement is valued at $7.2 million, funded partly by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Bank, and EDL, which will purchase $2.2 million worth of new equipment.

EDL Chairman Kamal Hayek said: “Polychlorinated biphenyls are a public health risk and their ability to linger for a very long time and move from one location to another makes the need to combat their presence inevitable, especially since they are cancerous.”

This agreement ensures Lebanon’s commitment to the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs).