Environmental impacts of El Arish power plant on the Mediterranean coast of Sinai, Egypt

A monitoring program was undertaken to evaluate the adverse impacts of the El Arish power plant on the northeastern Sinai coast of Egypt. This program spanned 28 months and includes intensive hydrographic surveying, measurements of waves, longshore current; littoral drift; currents behind the breaker zone, offshore currents; sea-level variation and water quality. The shoreline dynamics of the region have been substantially disrupted due to the high-intensity longshore transport and the interruption of longshore transport by the shore-perpendicular intake breakwaters: Maximum erosion of 5.5 m/year has been documented east of the breakwater. This erosion has been continuing eastwards, threatening the resort centers on the downcoast beaches. On the other hand, accretion (11.7 m/year) is recorded along the western side of the breakwater, accumulating great volumes of sand which, is transported to the east by littoral currents. Part of this sand enters the intake basin, causing sedimentation problems by the easterly and westerly littoral drifts and cross-shore currents. In other respect, an unprotected offshore channel dredged in front of the water discharger, east of the intake, acts as an effective trap for the predominantly easterly sand drift, subsequently interrupting; sediments moving from the east, accelerating processes of erosion to the east. The cooling and wastewater discharging from the discharger to the sea are insignificantly warmer than the upcoast water and not contaminated with chemical wastes: The thermal and chemical plume has no significant effect on the quality of the coastal water in the region.