You can clean up the language of war and conflict-smart bombs, surgical strikes, collateral damage, friendly fire-but cleaning up the consequences is a far harder task.
Our first thoughts are with the people on both sides of the conflict and the urgent need for food, water, medicines and shelter.
However, reconstruction and the humanitarian effort should and must remedy the environmental damage with its links to livelihoods, public health and human well-being.
The most high profile wounds inflicted on the environment have come from the up to 15,000 tonnes of fuel oil which spilt from the Jiyeh Power Station tanks after they were damaged by missiles in mid July.
Some 150 km of the Lebanese coast and coastal waters have been affected by the pollution as have parts of the Syrian coast.
Sadly the conflict blocked the international communities' early response to this environmental emergency. Now the guns have been silenced we can finally address this issue.
As I write, helicopter surveillance flights are poised to take to the air to confirm the precise quantities of oil that may still be at sea.
Clean up of the coastline is underway at some sites courtesy of early action by the Lebanese authorities and NGOs and as a result of equipment coming in from countries in the region and Europe.
An action plan, agreed recently at a meeting in Athens co-hosted by UNEP and the International Maritime Organization who jointly administer a regional Mediterranean oil spill centre (REMPEC), has estimated that some 50 million Euros or over $60 million will be needed to fully address the threat.
We are concerned about endangered and threatened species like turtles and sea bird colonies at reserve like those of the Palm Islands.
But we also know that the oil has economic consequences for the hotel and tourism industries and for fishing communities.
It would be unduly optimistic to imagine that holidaymakers will be flocking to Lebanon over the coming weeks and months. But we must ensure that when the time comes and confidence returns that clean and attractive coves, beaches and bathing waters are there to welcome returning holidaymakers.
The wider impact of the conflict is also high in our minds. Sadly, UNEP has had to gain considerable expertise in Post Conflict Assessments from the Balkans and Afghanistan to Iraq and Liberia.
We have assured the Lebanese authorities that this expertise will be made available to them so we can understand how damaged infrastructure may have polluted the air, land and freshwaters.
It will be important to also pin point any potential pollution hot spots and recommend and assist in clean up and making these safe.
The UNEP Post Conflict Assessment Branch has carried out a preliminary desk assessment and we have made available funding to send a team who, if conditions permit, could be there in three to four weeks.
The field work will be carried out in close collaboration with the joint UNEP/Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs unit, our Regional Office for West Asia in Bahrain and of course the Lebanese Authorities.
The work will have various elements looking at, for example, direct impacts on underground water supplies from the destruction of various targets including bridges, fuel depots and other buildings.
It is also expected to assess impacts due to the disruption of power supplies. For example, how disposal of untreated sewage may have impacted on rivers, soils and the sea and the consequences of healthcare wastes in the absence of incineration.
There are also possible impacts as a result of the break down of municipal services like municipal and industrial waste collection and processing.
Other issues surround the environmental impacts of refugees and displaced people as well as the legacy of the weapons used.
The assessment, which will also involve laboratory testing and the training of local Lebanese experts in field in monitoring techniques and environmental remediation methods.
A costed action plan, detailing priority sites in need of immediate clean up and those with a longer term horizon will also be drawn up.
I sincerely hope and indeed expect that the international community will, as they have done in the past, assist with the necessary funding to undertake this vital work.
Funding needed so we can lift the pollution threat from Lebanon's lands as swiftly as is humanly possible.
Funding so that the people of Lebanon can more quickly and safely piece back their shattered lives and livelihoods and re-build stability and peace.
Funding so that a rehabilitated environment can play its crucial role in hastening Lebanon's economic recovery.
Achim Steiner, UN Under Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), exclusive commentary for Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia.
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