The Justice Ministry's Department for Guiding Prosecutors Certified on Behalf of the Attorney General notified EAPC and five of its former and current employees on Tuesday that it is considering indicting them for carrying out environmental offenses that led to five million liters of oil being spilled close to the town of Be’er Ora, approximately 20 km. north of Eilat.
The incident took place on December 3, 2014, during the construction of the Ramon Airport north of Eilat, which required diverting a section of the Eilat-Ashkelon oil pipeline near the Be'er Ora junction.
According to the indictment, EAPC, which was responsible for diverting the pipeline, failed to properly assess the situation, did not coordinate between the involved entities and ignored important safety regulations, all of which led the pipeline to collapse.
Subsequently, five million liters of oil covered large areas including the Evrona Nature Reserve. The gas seeped into the ground and severely damaged the environment, flora and fauna in the nature reserve and led to the entire reserve being stained with oil, which caused unprecedented damage to the reserve and its unique ecosystem.
Multiple class action suits were opened against EAPC and other officials involved due to the damage caused by the pollution, demanding compensation for the Israeli public and the local residents of the Hevel Eilot Regional Council and surrounding areas.
In November 2019, it was decided in a class action settlement that EAPC would pay NIS 100 million in damages for their negligence that led to the unprecedented environmental disaster.
Following the announcement of the pending indictment, EAPC issued a statement claiming that the company acted in a "responsible and efficient manner" during and after the unfortunate incident and that it remained "committed to the protection of the environment."
"EAPC is funding a special project for cleaning and rehabilitating the ground and is fully cooperating with Israel's Nature and Parks Authority and the Netafim and Liquidgas companies," the statement noted. "EAPC is proud to say that the rehabilitation efforts are bearing fruit, with experts seeing an increase in plantation and wildlife in the area, which teaches us about the stability of the ecological system."