Zouk power plant (Credit: Philippe Hage Boutros/OLJ)
BEIRUT — State-owned electricity provider Electricité du Liban said in a statement on Thursday that “EDL and the Energy Ministry had fulfilled the entirety of their duties” in response to the report on safety issues in the Zouk power plant presented by Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi to cabinet on Wednesday, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Here’s what we know:
• The report presented by Mawlawi claimed that there were dangerous materials unsafely stored in the Zouk power plant. The Army was tasked on Thursday with “securing the power plant, inspecting the materials present and taking the necessary measures to prevent any harm they might cause.”
• EDL’s statement responded that the storage of chemical materials was considered safe after inspections conducted over the past two years by the Army, security forces and the National Council for Scientific Research.
• The statement added that an agreement had been reached with Combilift, a German company, to dispose of expired materials but that it had yet to receive the required approvals from “the concerned ministries and administrations.”
• Regarding personnel tasked with the plant’s security, the statement mentioned a demand from the Defense Ministry issued two years ago to the Interior Ministry to appoint security force members to guarantee the plant’s safety.