MORE ON THE LEBANESE OIL SPILL:

Lebanon's Coast Is Drowning in Oil
A spill caused by an Israeli airstrike has blackened popular beaches and threatens the economy and delicate ecosystems.
By Borzou Daragahi, [Los Angeles] Times Staff Writer
September 4, 2006

BEIRUT — The azure waters of the Mediterranean have long been a symbol of Lebanon's fun-loving character and proud maritime history. But the country's prized 135-mile coast has become its biggest environmental disaster.

Thick gobs of oil have clogged the coast's coral reefs. Sandy beaches have become black-stained no-go zones. Rocky fishermen's coves have become dark soups of crude. All are the result of Israeli airstrikes on seaside oil tanks in the first days of the war against Hezbollah.

Between 3 1/2 and 5 million gallons of oil have fouled more than half of the Lebanese coast, and the damage grows each day that the fractured central government fails to begin the cleanup. Scientists have compared it to the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker, which ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, dumping 11 million gallons of oil.

Byblos is not mentioned in this article, but it is surely still very much affected.