The Environmental Protection Ministry released the first summary of Israel’s
environmental issues by the numbers late Wednesday night – and it makes for a
mixed read of improvements and deteriorations.
The report, entitled “The
Environment in Israel – Indicators, Data and Trends, 2010,” outlines an
unprecedented more than 100 measurements of environmental pollution, water use
and other related issues. It puts together for the first time statistical data
about pollution, and charts trends from the mid-90s to 2008.
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pollution levels could be better, the report indicates that several significant
pollution measurements have been on the decline for the last decade. For
instance, air pollution has dropped as a result of cleaner gasoline, switching
from oil to natural gas to run power stations and many more cars with catalytic
converters. There are also other relatively positive shifts in levels of water
reuse. But the report’s section on land contamination, for instance,
makes for grim reading.
“This document compiles data on more than one
hundred different indicators dealing with the main environmental resources:
land, air, water, marine and biodiversity,” according to the English executive
summary of the report, which was compiled by the ministry’s Chief Scientist Dr.
Yehoshua Bar-Or, and Dr. Orna Metzner.
Added Ministry Director-General
Yossi Inbar in the preface: “These trends should help us figure out where to
allocate our resources and decide on the agenda which is reflected in the work
programs.”
Here are some of the key statistics and trends.
Land:
“The scope of built space in Israel totaled 1,147.5 square kilometers in 2007,
or 5.3% of the country’s land area. Built space in the Tel Aviv region
constitutes twothirds of the total space, while in the northern and southern
regions built space ranges between 2%-6%. Some 83.5 square kilometers of built
space were added between 1998 and 2007 throughout the
country.
Contaminated land: “As of 2008, some 1,195 contaminated sites
were identified in Israel. The largest number of contaminated sites (316) was
discovered in the Tel Aviv region as a result of numerous industrial plants and
military and industrial workshops. Their activities were responsible for land
contamination and large-scale groundwater pollution throughout the Tel Aviv
metropolitan area (Gush Dan),” according to the report.
The report
singled out gas stations in particular.
“In most of the older gas
stations, soil contamination was discovered, and groundwater pollution was also
found in 32% of the sites,” it said.
“In the soils of the Western
Galilee,” it added, “aggregations of industrial asbestos waste exist due to past
dispersion of asbestos waste for soil stabilization and cover.”
Air:
Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan has said fighting air pollution
and dealing with climate change are two of the ministry’s top
priorities.
The report found that “In 2008, measurements of fine
respirable particles exceeded acceptable values in all of Israel’s monitoring
stations. Sulfur dioxide concentrations have dramatically decreased in recent
years due to improved fuel quality in power plants and industry and due to the
switch to natural gas in the Ashdod power plant.
“Nitrogen oxide
concentrations in transportation monitoring stations, situated near major
traffic arteries, have shown a downward trend since 2000. However, in 2008,
nitrogen dioxide measurements exceeding standards were still recorded in all
transportation and general monitoring stations in Israel,” the writers of the
report noted. There were also excessive amounts of lead in industrial
areas and benzene near traffic arteries and fuel depots though “carbon monoxide
values were low.”
One of the main air pollution sources is electricity
production. The data indicates that pollution has decreased in recent
years because of stricter standards for fuel and the switch to natural gas in
several power stations such as Eshkol, Reading, Hagit and Gezer.
Although
Israel’s contribution of greenhouse gases to the global amount is minuscule,
Israel has pledged to reduce its emissions.
“Between 1996 and 2007,
greenhouse gas emissions to the air (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane)
in Israel grew by 14 million tons. Between 2000 and 2007, there was a
significant reduction in the specific emission per capita (0.82 tons) of
greenhouse gases. On the other hand, in 2007, an increase relative to 2006 was
noted (0.11 tons).
“The main source of carbon dioxide emissions is fuel
combustion, mostly for electricity production and fuel refining. The second
source is fuel combustion for transportation, and to a lesser extent, fuel
combustion for the manufacturing and construction industries. The main source of
methane emissions to the air is municipal waste (between 75% to 78%),” said the
report.
Water: “Freshwater consumption for all uses decreased from 1,591
million cubic meters (MCM) in 1996 to 1,309 MCM in 2002, with a slight increase
in 2008 to 1,337,” the report found.
“Agriculture’s part decreased over
the past decade from 43% of the total freshwater for consumption in 2001 to 36%
in 2008, while the part of the domestic sector in total freshwater consumption
rose from 37% in 1996 to 57% in 2008. The agricultural sector supplemented its
water requirements by increasing its effluent reuse. Relative to other developed
or industrial states worldwide, Israel makes use of nearly all its renewable
water sources for domestic use, agriculture and industry. This has had an
adverse impact on freshwater sources and wetlands, and the flora and fauna
there,” the report noted.
The seesawing back and forth between drought
years and rainy years has put a lot of stress on Lake Kinneret. Aside
from seasonal effects, the report’s compilers added that “The concentration of
fecal bacteria in the Kinneret waters is higher than permitted by Israel’s
drinking water standard (0 total coliforms per 100 ml).”
Treating
wastewater and effluent reuse has also grown over the years. “The quantity of
treated wastewater increased from 354 MCM in 1998 to 471 MCM in 2008. In
this period, the quantity of wastewater treated to at least secondary level grew
from 223 MCM to 416 MCM. The percent of effluents reused for irrigation
purposes in Israel in 2008 was the highest in the world (82% of the total
municipal wastewater),” according to the report.
Cadmium and mercury
concentrations in the Kishon River sediments have been declining steadily since
1997, while the coral reef in Eilat has been stable for the last
decade.
Biodiversity: Few species were in danger of extinction in Israel,
but there were 200 alien species of which 50 were invasive.
Radiation:
“The average levels of non-ionizing radiation in localities in the vicinity of
large transmission stations are some 650 nanowatts per square centimeter, mostly
deriving from AM radio broadcasting (some 90%),’ said the report. “In large
cities and other localities with cell sites, the average measured levels range
between 60 nanowatts per square centimeter to 80 nanowatts per square
centimeter. Some 60% of the exposure in these localities is attributed to
cell sites and the rest to distant radio stations (AM and short wave). The
lowest levels, less than 20 nanowatts per square centimeter, were measured in
localities without cell sites and in open space in the Golan
Heights.
Waste: Erdan has also put waste management at the top of his
list of priorities during his tenure.
The report found that the quantity
of solid waste in Israel has reached 11,300 tons per year. “Of this, some 4,400
tons per year are municipal waste, some 1,600 tons per year are industrial waste
and about 4,000 tons per year are construction waste. The average quantity of
municipal waste per capita per day in Israel was 1.6 kilograms per day in 2008,
some 585 kilograms per year, similar to the situation in some European
states.
“In 2008, 12.5% of the municipal waste was recycled, 25% of the
municipal and industrial waste was recycled and 45.5% of the construction waste
was recycled. All of Israel’s coal ash is recycled, mostly for the construction
industry,” said the report.
“The quantity of hazardous waste transferred
for treatment as of 2004 is estimated at 300,000 tons per year. Some 65% of this
waste is disposed by means of incineration and evaporation, landfilling,
physicochemical treatment and biological treatment. Between 30%-40% of Israel’s
hazardous waste undergoes recovery and a small amount is exported for treatment
abroad,” the report concluded.