The Treasury will transfer NIS 22 million to equip two ships to treat sea
pollution, the Environmental Protection Ministry announced on
Tuesday.
After the Environmental Protection Ministry threatened it would
not give its support in the Planning and Building Committee to the establishment
of further oil and gas drilling off the coast, the Finance Ministry agreed on
the NIS 22m. sum for pollution prevention measures, the Environment Ministry
said.
In addition to financing the ship deployment, the funds will also
pay for two pollution prevention facilities to be built along the Mediterranean
coast, as well as nine new Environmental Protection Ministry professionals to
manage the treatment of oil and gas drilling leaks there.
“We cannot
continue to rely on luck, and must be prepared for the mishaps that will occur
during drilling that will cause severe pollution incidents,” Environmental
Protection Ministry director-general Alona Shefer-Karo said. “The agreement that
was reached allows us to continue to advance drilling activities and at the same
time build a treatment system that will provide a quick, professional response
in emergency events.”
The coastal facilities will be located in Haifa and
Ashkelon and will operate on a 24-hour basis, seven days a week, the ministry
said.
Meanwhile, the ministry will use the new budget to buy the ships
dedicated to fighting pollution at sea – equipped with mechanisms to pump fuel
from the water and capable of longterm stays at sea, the ministry
said.
When conducting oil and gas drilling, it is imperative to monitor
pollution levels in the Mediterranean within about 150 kilometers of the coast,
the ministry explained. Aside from the drilling, at any given moment there are
also about 2,000 merchant ships in the Mediterranean Sea and about 60 marine
accidents occur there each year, of which approximately 15 results in oil
spills. It is therefore crucial to ensure that appropriate equipment and
professional personnel and vessels are available to handle the various dangers,
the ministry said.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel
praised the agreement to finance these pollution prevention mechanisms, and
noted it has for several years been emphasizing the importance of protecting the
sea from oil and gas drilling.
“There is no dispute that together with
the benefits of discovering oil and gas, the industry bears high risks and
potentially great damage to the sea and to the State of Israel,” SPNI
said.
“Therefore, SPNI welcomes the fact that the state is taking
necessary measures for the protection and preservation of the sea resources, and
now calls upon the Environmental Protection Ministry to complete the required
legislation related to Israel’s economic waters, outside its territorial waters,
so that the ministry can also exercise its authorities in these
areas.”
The territorial waters are those within 12 nautical miles (22.224
km.) of a country’s coast, while the economic waters – otherwise known as the
exclusive economic zone – are those within 200 nautical miles (370 km.). The
Environmental Protection Ministry currently lacks the authority to regulate in
the latter.
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