Archaeo­logists attack BP’s drilling plans | The Art Newspaper

From Greek and Roman shipwrecks to 20th-century warships; from ancient streets with intact buildings and mosaics to am­phorae and ingots, the Mediter­ranean is a subaqueous treasure trove. So BP’s plans to drill exploratory oil wells off Libya has raised serious concerns among archaeologists, historians and heritage preservation organisations.

The global energy giant says that it will begin the $900m project to drill five exploratory wells in the Gulf of Sirte “before the end of this year” despite the fact that the cause of the blowout of its Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico has yet to be determined. The Libyan wells will be 200 metres deeper than the Macondo.

“An oil spill off the coast of Libya would be a complete disaster,” said Claude Sintes, the director of the subaquatic team of the French archaeological mission to Libya and director of the Museum of Ancient Arles, France. According to Sintes, there are two archaeologically rich areas along the Libyan coast—Cyrenaica and Tripoli­tania. Within Cyrenaica lies Apollonia, an ancient harbour submerged five metres under the water. “It’s a complete town under the sea with streets, walls and houses. Slow tectonic movement caused it to sink,” said Sintes.

via Archaeo­logists attack BP’s drilling plans | The Art Newspaper.