2014 Israeli oil spill in Evrona nature reserve (1)

In December 2014, a major oil spill occurred in the vicinity of Be'er Ora Israel, with an estimated 3-5 million liters of crude oil leaking from a breached pipeline, contaminating much of the Evrona nature reserve. An Environmental Protection Ministry official stated that the cleanup would likely take years, and that the spill was one of the gravest natural disasters in the country's history. In light of this, On December 9, 2014,

Ofir Akunis Ofir Akunis ( he, אוֹפִיר אָקוּנִיס, born 28 May 1973) is an Israeli politician. He currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Likud and is the Minister of Science and Technology. He has previously held the posts of Min ...

was appointed deputy environmental protection minister. Akunis replaced

Amir Peretz Amir Peretz ( he, עָמִיר פֶּרֶץ; born on 9 March 1952) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party. A Knesset member almost continuously from 1988 to 2021, he has served as Minister of Defen ...

, who resigned from his post at the helm of the ministry. The appointment, by Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

's office, came a week after the massive crude oil spill in Israel's Arava region. Akunis said that "it is the deputy minister's intention to prioritize treatment of the ecological disaster in the south and to do all that is necessary to prevent the spread of the crude oil, and to prevent a health and environmental disaster." Akunis ordered crews to raise the side walls of the dams that had been built in the Arava to prevent flooding. Thanks to the infrastructure that had already been built in the area, the risk that the oil would reach the

Gulf of Eilat The Gulf of Aqaba ( ar, خَلِيجُ ٱلْعَقَبَةِ, Khalīj al-ʿAqabah) or Gulf of Eilat ( he, מפרץ אילת, Mifrátz Eilát) is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian ...

significantly dropped. Akunis instructed that the reserve remain closed as long as high values of pollutants were still registered in air quality tests. In the end of December 2014, the government approved a

NIS Nis, Niš, NiS or NIS may refer to: Places * Niš, a city in Serbia * Nis, Iran, a village * Ness, Lewis ( gd, Nis, links=no), a village in the Outer Hebrides islands Businesses and organizations * Naftna Industrija Srbije, Petroleum Industry o ...

17 million Environmental Protection Ministry plan to rehabilitate. According to Akunis, the NIS 17 million program will serve to treat the soils contaminated by the spill as well as help restore the wildlife populations damaged over the course of the event. As part of the plan, a special team will be appointed to evaluate the environmental impact of various

Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company The Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company ( he, חברת קו צינור אילת אשקלון בע"מ (קצא”א), also known as the Europe Asia Pipeline Company and by the acronym EAPC) operates several crude petroleum and refined petroleum produc ...

activities on both dry land and beaches. The approved plan also involves opening a closed Eilat beach on EAPC-owned property to the city's residents and visitors. In January 2015, air quality tests found that there had been a 90% reduction of pollution in Evrona.

References

{{reflist 2014 in the environment 2014 in Israel Oil spills in Asia Environmental disasters in Asia Environmental issues in Israel 2014 disasters in Israel