This is our daily post that is shared across Twitter & Telegram and published first on here with Kindness & Love XX on peace-truth.com/

#AceNewsRoom With ‘Kindness & Wisdom’ Nov.16, 2022 @acenewsservices

Follow Our Breaking & Daily News Here As It Happens:

#GlobalWarming & #ClimateChange News Desk – #COP27: Oil pollution in Egypt threatens one of world’s few thriving coral reefs By Ziad Al-Qattan: BBC News Arabic

As Egypt hosts world leaders to discuss action over climate change, an oil terminal is dumping toxic wastewater on the country’s Red Sea coast, an investigation by BBC News Arabic has found. A rare form of coral, that offers hope for preserving ocean life as the planet warms, could be a casualty.

Leaked documents obtained by the BBC and non-profit journalism group SourceMaterial reveal that “produced water” from Egypt’s Ras Shukeir oil terminal is being dumped into the Red Sea every day.

The barely treated wastewater – which is brought to the surface during oil and gas drilling – contains high levels of toxins, oil and grease.

The documents, which were issued by the Gulf of Suez Petroleum Company (Gupco) in 2019 to try to hire a company to treat the water, say the pollution levels “do not comply” with Egyptian environmental laws and regulations.

Every day, 40,000 cubic metres of this toxic water – the equivalent of 16 Olympic-sized swimming pools – is going into the Red Sea, the documents say.

• Fossil fuel delegates spike at climate summit
• The big issues facing Egypt’s COP27 climate summit
• Swimmer attempts Red Sea crossing for climate change
• The super-corals of the Red Sea

Dr Greg Asner, an ecologist at Arizona State University, says the information is “very alarming”, showing pollution from lead, cadmium, copper, nickel and other heavy metals. “You don’t have to be an expert to know that something is not right here,” he says:

The leaked documents indicate Egypt’s government has known about the wastewater problem since at least 2019, after British oil company BP sold its 50% stake in the plant to United Arab Emirates’ firm, Dragon Oil. The other 50% is owned by Egypt’s state oil company.

The sale by BP was part of a decision to dispose of company assets worth $10bn (£8bn at the time), seen by many commentators as a plan to help it meet climate targets.

Caroline Lucas, a UK MP for the Green Party, says: “It comes as no surprise that BP and others would rather sell on their dirtiest, most environmentally destructive assets, than clean them up themselves.”

BP told the BBC the sale of its share of Gupco was for financial reasons, not as part of any plan to meet climate targets. It referred questions about the wastewater to Gupco.

Gupco and Egypt’s environment ministry did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

Access to the facilities at Ras Shukeir is restricted to oil workers and government inspectors. However, the BBC was able to use satellite images to examine the extent of the water pollution.

Analysis of high-resolution satellite images shows a wide plume of green effluent flowing into the sea, travelling up to 20 km (12 miles) south into areas harbouring marine life.

Satellite analysis company Soar.Earth used remote water quality monitoring techniques to examine the plume. The company’s remote sensing expert, Sergio Volkmer, says it is “not made of some algal bloom” but from something beneath the surface, such as sediments or liquid emitted locally.

That same green plume is visible in the earliest satellite image the BBC could find, from 1985, indicating that the oil terminal may have been dumping “produced water” into the Red Sea for decades. It still appears in the most recent image of the plant, from September 2022.

Editor says …Sterling Publishing & Media Service Agency is not responsible for the content of external site or from any reports, posts or links, and can also be found here on Telegram: https://t.me/acenewsdaily and all wordpress and live posts and links here: https://acenewsroom.wordpress.com/ and thanks for following as always appreciate every like, reblog or retweet and free help and guidance tips on your PC software or need help & guidance from our experts AcePCHelp.WordPress.Com