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Beirut (dpa) - German experts have found dismaying conditions when recovering highly toxic chemicals in the port of the Lebanese city of Beirut.
Large quantities of toxic and highly flammable substances were stored there for years without any special safety measures, as the head of the dangerous goods specialist Höppner from the Lower Saxony city of Winsen, Michael Wentler, reported to the German Press Agency.
Some of the chemicals had eaten through canisters and containers and leaked.
From there they reached the sea with a high degree of certainty, as Wentler said.
Together with the company Combi Lift from Bremen, Höppner is responsible for the recovery and disposal of 52 containers.
The Beirut port authority awarded the contract after the explosion last August.
More than 190 people died in the devastating detonation.
It is said to have been triggered by large quantities of the highly explosive chemical ammonium nitrate, which were also stored in the port for years without security measures.
According to Wentler, some of the containers with the chemicals had been in the Beirut port for ten or 20 years.
He spoke of a "terrible situation" that he had never seen before when storing dangerous goods.
It is unclear where the substances come from and why they were not removed.
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There is no clear answer to this, as this happened many years ago, said the incumbent Lebanese minister for public works, Michel Nadschar, the German press agency.
One explanation is that sometimes the cargo list of a ship does not correspond to the material actually imported.
The entire earth in this port area is highly contaminated and would have to be removed three to four meters deep, said Wentler.
The recovered waste and dangerous goods are shipped to Germany, where they are to be disposed of.
Höppner to rescue the containers