Damaged pipeline causes ecological disaster in desert

Thousands of gallons of jet fuel leaked for several hours Wednesday from a pipe owned by the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company, causing serious pollution to Nahal Zin nature reserve in Israel's Negev desert.

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority estimated that over 1.5 million liters of jet fuel spilled out into the reserve, causing serious environmental damage and potentially damaging groundwater and desert flora.

Nature and Parks Authority southern district Director Raviv Shapira said he expected the leak would harm local animals and plants over the short and long term. "It is difficult to evaluate the damage at this stage," said Shapira, "but this is a terrible blow to nature. Right now, we are talking about difficult rehabilitation work, which will continue for several weeks." The area was closed off to hikers, as the contamination could be dangerous for humans.

The pipeline, which transports fuel from Eilat to Ashkelon, was damaged when it was hit by a tractor that was doing repair work on it. Due to the severe damage, it was impossible to prevent the fuel leak, which continued to flow forcefully for a long time.

Parks Authority inspectors arrived at the site immediately upon receiving notice of the leak, together with Environmental Protection Ministry officials, Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company workers and others and attempted to plug the leak and minimize the damage. Eventually, company workers closed the pipe's emergency valves. According to the Environmental Protection Ministry, the spill polluted around half a kilometer of stream bed.

The Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company issued a statement saying, "During works carried out on the line near Sde Boker, heavy machinery belonging to an external contractor hit an inactive pipeline containing jet fuel. The company followed emergency procedures, isolated the section of the pipe and stopped the leak. The company is pumping the oil out of the stream bed, and will begin the process of fixing and maintaining the area in order to restore it to its original state, in full accordance with the relevant regulatory bodies."

After the oil is pumped out of the stream bed, the polluted soil will also be removed from the site. Meanwhile, Environmental Protection Ministry inspectors have collected samples of polluted soil ahead of an investigation to be launched against the company.

Shmuel Rifman, head of the Ramat Hanegev regional council, through which the pipeline passes, said he recently issued several warnings regarding the danger posed by oil pipelines traversing the council's territory. "Last month, there were cases of fuel theft in the area, and now we are forced to deal with an ecological disaster in the Zin reserve. I call upon the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company to immediately halt the works, evaluate their conduct and prepare a budget for immediate treatment of the damage, so that such a disaster will not be repeated."

Greenpeace also issued a statement, saying, "We must wean ourselves of our addiction to oil and aggressively promote clean, green energies."

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