Ministry orders city to clean up mine shaft

The investigators issued their report in February 2007, stating that the shaft contained thousands of tons of liquid and solid wastes.

By TRANSLATEDMIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY
The Ministry for Environmental Protection has issued the city of Herzliya with a warning that it is breaching the law by not cleaning up thousands of tons of liquid wastes and household garbage discovered in an abandoned mine shaft in the city, reports www.local.co.il. The ministry found that underground water reserves in the area of the shaft have become polluted as a result of the waste, and has demanded that the city act immediately to solve the problem. According to the report, some time ago the municipality itself asked the ministry to test the ground at the abandoned mine shaft near Tzomet Hasira. The investigators issued their report in February 2007, stating that the shaft contained thousands of tons of liquid and solid wastes, including fuels and oils that had seeped into and polluted nearby underground water reserves. The ministry demanded that the municipality present a detailed plan for how it planned to clean up the pollution and prevent further pollution from occurring. But with the city reportedly having done nothing to meet the demands, the ministry has now decided to act. It has warned the city that it is breaching the law, and has demanded that it present a detailed rehabilitation plan by February 28, with the work to be completed by July 1. A ministry spokesman said all legal means possible would be used to make the city comply, with the maximum penalty for such offenses being a fine of NIS 350,000 or one year in jail, plus steep fines for every day the offenses continued after this time. The report said the shaft had been known to be problematic for the past eight years, but nothing had been done about it and water was now being polluted as a result. No response was reported from the municipality.