How are Arab World Countries Attempting to Prevent another Beirut Catastrophe?

posted on: Aug 28, 2020

BY: Maria Yepez/ Arab America Contributing Writer                     Prior to Aug. 4, Beirut had a dynamic commercial zone composed of one of the busiest ports in the Mediterranean region, which also was responsible for a large part of Lebanon’s grain imports. Next thing we know, Beirut’s port is completely gone from the map, and the city is reduced to a disaster zone, where chaos reigns.

In the wake of all the destruction left behind in the capital, Arab World countries such as Egypt and Iraq quickly recognized the risk of not revising their safety measures and ensuring that a catastrophe of that magnitude doesn’t happen again.

Was the Tragedy Preventable?

Following the explosion that the United States Geological Survey classified as the equivalent of a magnitude 3.3 earthquake, the investigations pointed out to the detonation of 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate as the cause of what happened.

For reference, ammonium nitrate is a common industrial compound that is often used as a source of nitrogen for agricultural fertilizer. However, it can also be used as an explosive. The use of this compound is constant in practices such as mining and tunneling. While it is considered one of the cheapest and most productive compounds, it is also extremely difficult to storage it since is highly explosive when it comes into contact with fire. For that reason, this compound has strict safety protocols for its proper storage and use.

Considering that, it is truly puzzling to think that 2,750 metric tons of this compound had been stored in the port of Beirut since 2013 with no proper safety measures whatsoever.

The ship storing the ammonium nitrate was a Russian-owned vessel that stopped in Beirut due to financial and mechanical difficulties. However, what both the Port Authority and the ship’s crew thought would be temporal started to unsettle them as it became evident that the ship would never resume its journey.

Lebanon’s Director of Customs, Badri Daher, who described the cargo as “a floating bomb,” had sent over the years six documents to the judiciary explaining that the cargo posed an extreme danger, and requesting its removal from the port.

“Due to the extreme danger posed by this stored items in unsuitable climate conditions, we reiterate our request to the Port Authorities to re-export the goods immediately to maintain the safety of the port and those working in it,” said Daher in a letter dated from 2016, and to which he received no response.

Moving Forward

If we look at Oppau, Germany; Tianjin, China; Galveston Bay, Texas; Waco, Texas; and unfortunately, Beirut, Lebanon, which now joins the list. Historically, ammonium nitrate has been the cause of deadly industrial explosions.

“[The Beirut explosion] is a catastrophic regulatory failure because regulations on the storage of ammonium nitrate are typically very clear. The idea that such a quantity would have been left unattended for six years beggars belief and was an accident waiting to happen,” explained Andrea Sella, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at University College London.

Previous disasters implicating ammonium nitrate had usually led to the reevaluation and improvement of safety protocols for the proper storage of dangerous materials, and this case would be no different. Ten days after this atrocious explosion and we already see countries such as Egypt and Iraq taking proactive steps towards the prevention of future tragedies.

Egypt

In an official statement issued on Aug. 9, Egypt’s Minister of Civil Aviation, Mohamed Manar, announced the formation of a supreme committee in charge of inspecting shipments stored in warehouses and containers in all airports of the country.

As a precautionary measure, the committee will have the power of immediately relocating hazardous materials away from airports and populated areas to safe storage areas. In that way, the comprehensive evaluations conducted by the committee would ensure the safety of the population while maintaining high safety standards as mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

“It is a good and immediate move by the Egyptian government to conduct such a review of the dangerous materials that exist in its vital institutions, especially airports and seaports,” Mohamed Abu Hamed told Al-Monitor. He was one of the many Parliamentarians that publicly praised Egypt’s plan of action.

Iraq

Another country that has quickly reacted to the Beirut explosion is Iraq. In a brief announcement, Iraqi Prime Minister, Mufasa al-Kadhimi also prompted the formation of a committee to deal with high-risk material and its safe storage. Border Management and Migration Control Authority announced the relocation of hazardous materials that were stored in Baghdad International Airport.

Iraqi authorities further explained that the ‘high-risk items’ would be transferred to “warehouses operated by the Military Engineering Directorate,” as explained by journalist Mohamed Abu Zaid to ArabNews.

Efforts made by different countries in light of the tragedy of Aug. 4 demonstrate that the Beirut explosion was a lesson that although painful it was not in vain. The storage of hazardous materials is an alarming problem countries such as Libya, Ukraine, and Georgia are also dealing with.

“It is a grim reminder of the troubling fact that there are dangerous dumps of dangerous materials being stored close to residential areas,” said Egyptian parliamentarian Bassant Fahmi.

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