Oil Spill Damages Israel Desert Nature Reserve
Image by getty images
An oil spill from a pipeline into a desert nature reserve near Eilat is being called one of Israel’s worst environmental disasters.
The Eilat –Ashkelon pipeline ruptured Wednesday night next to the Evrona reserve, on the border with Jordan. The break occurred during maintenance work on the pipeline that runs between the Mediterranean and Red seas, according to reports citing a preliminary investigation.
More than 80 people were treated for respiratory problems due to the spill, mostly over the border in Jordan. Three Israelis were hospitalized for inhaling toxic fumes.
The amount of crude oil spilled is estimated at thousands of gallons, according to the Environment Protection Ministry.
“Rehabilitation will take months, if not years,” Guy Samet, the director of the southern region for the Environmental Protection Ministry, told Israel Radio. “This is one of the State of Israel’s most serious pollution events. We are still having trouble gauging the full extent of the contamination.”
Highway 90, the main road into the resort town of Eilat, was closed in both directions for about 30 miles as emergency teams worked to staunch the flow of oil.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
