The company responsible for a massive oil spill in Israel’s south last week has been banned from operating the faulty pipeline for the time being.
The Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company (EAPC) had maintained the Trans-Israel pipeline, which was damaged during maintenance and is said to have sent some 3 million litres of oil gushing into the southern desert, severely damaging a nature reserve and other areas.
The Environmental Protection Ministry said the company had to stop operating the line, a major oil conduit between the Mediterranean and the Red seas, until it is issued a new permit.
The line, which facilitates the transport of crude oil between Europe and Asia, burst due to ‘a technical error’, according to an EAPC spokesperson.
Government clean-up crews are already working to remove the polluted sand caused by Wednesday’s break in the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline.
The Environmental Protection Ministry has sucked up 1000 m3 of the spilled oil in the Evrona Nature Reserve already and transferred 8500 t of contaminated soil into the Nimra landfill, rains forecast for this week have put environmentalists on edge.
Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner
Sources: The Times of Israel, The Jersusalem Post