Nahal Zin fuel leak
Encyclopedia
The Nahal Zin fuel leak was a severe ecological disaster caused in June 2011 when a backhoe loader
struck and ruptured an underground fuel pipeline
in southern Israel
. 1.5 million liters of jet fuel
leaked into the surrounding soil, resulting in localized soil contamination, damage to nearby flora, and wasted fuel. It is considered the worst ecological disaster ever to befall a nature reserve
in the history of the State of Israel
.
desert in the south of the country. Its source is at Mount Hemet (918 m) and it flows generally northeast, draining into the salt pan
of Sodom
at the southern tip of the Dead Sea
. Vegetation in the vicinity of Nahal Zin is sparse, but the banks of the stream and occasional springs
along the way abound in reeds, juncus
, atriplex
, and tamarix
. Due to the lack of trees, local avifauna are typically ground-breeders. Geologists have determined that Nahal Zin used to flow northwest and drain into the Mediterranean Sea
via the Besor Stream; however, as the Jordan Rift Valley
formed, it altered course
dramatically and channeled its way northeast to the Dead Sea instead.
operates several pipelines delivering oil and related products to and from the Port of Eilat
.
was engaged in maintenance work at a point where Nahal Zin intersects one of the oil pipelines operated by the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company (EAPC). It struck and ruptured the pipeline, causing some 1.5 million liters of jet fuel to gush out for several hours and leak into the surrounding soil. With an affected radius of half a kilometer around the rupture point and a depth of several meters, fears were raised that damage to the surrounding environment would be extensive. Within two weeks of the disaster, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority reported that vegetation on the Nahal Zin nature reserve had dried up.
was dug in order to coax the fuel back to a single point for pumping. EAPC was instructed to pump dry the puddles of jet fuel that had formed on the ground and to transfer the affected soil to a treatment plant for decontamination. Experts consulted to evaluate the extent of the damage estimated that cleaning up the area of the spill would take weeks to months, with fears that if the situation was not resolved by wintertime, rainfall would exacerbate it. A hydrologist
from the University of Haifa
estimated that, should it emerge that the 25-meter-deep aquifer
became polluted, it could take years for the area to be rehabilitated and cleansed of contaminants.
In August the Nature and Parks Authority reported that most of the cleanup operations had been completed and that work would soon begin to restore the scenery of the area. At the same time, senior contacts in the nature preservation community told Haaretz
that the scale on which earth had been removed from the vicinity of the spill was excessive and had turned it into "a mining and quarrying site." An official Nature and Parks Authority report completed in late August indicated that the rehabilitation efforts had indeed taken an ecological toll on the site and seriously disrupted the routines of local wildlife.
EAPC and representatives from Israel's Ministry of the Environment held a ceremony marking the completion of cleanup efforts on 27 September. EAPC stated that it successfully restored the Nahal Zin area to its earlier state prior to the leak.
had instructed him to transplant a tree. It attributed the accident to "profound incompetence" on the part of the park ranger and the driver.
Israel's Ministry of the Environment called the disaster the worst ever on an Israeli nature reserve. A spokeswoman for the ministry said that no automatic safety valves were ever installed as a precaution should a leak occur, and further charged EAPC with failing to ensure that it had vehicles capable of negotiating the terrain fast enough to deal with the leak before the fuel had a chance to be absorbed by the soil.
The chairman of the Knesset
Environment and Health Committee urged the government to adopt his recommendation for a revised Petroleum Law and radically alter its approach to fossil fuel-related environmental protection.
A spokeswoman for Greenpeace
in Israel called the disaster "a large, black flag" for Israel and said more needed to be done to end Israel's reliance on oil and to promote renewable energy alternatives.
Israel's Green Movement
co-chairman at Ben-Gurion University accused Israel's infrastructural institutions of being derelict both in protecting the nation's natural resources and in ensuring that adequate measures are in place for immediate cleanup efforts when they become necessary.
called EAPC's actions "careless" and said he intends to demand that the EAPC Law, currently granting immunity to the company in environmental matters, be revised in order that EAPC may be held accountable for its actions.
Backhoe loader
A backhoe loader, also called a loader backhoe, digger, or colloquially shortened to backhoe, is a heavy equipment vehicle that consists of a tractor fitted with a shovel/bucket on the front and a small backhoe on the back...
struck and ruptured an underground fuel pipeline
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
in southern Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. 1.5 million liters of jet fuel
Jet fuel
Jet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is clear to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial aviation are Jet A and Jet A-1 which are produced to a standardized international specification...
leaked into the surrounding soil, resulting in localized soil contamination, damage to nearby flora, and wasted fuel. It is considered the worst ecological disaster ever to befall a nature reserve
Nature reserve
A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...
in the history of the State of Israel
History of Israel
The State of Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948 after almost two millennia of Jewish dispersal and persecution around the Mediterranean. From the late 19th century the Zionist movement worked towards the goal of recreating a homeland for the Jewish people...
.
Nahal Zin
Nahal Zin is a 120-kilometer-long intermittent stream in Israel's NegevNegev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
desert in the south of the country. Its source is at Mount Hemet (918 m) and it flows generally northeast, draining into the salt pan
Salt pan
Salt pans can refer to:*Salt pan , a flat expanse of ground covered with salt and other minerals, usually found in deserts*Salt evaporation pond, a method of producing salt by evaporating brine...
of Sodom
Sodom
- Places :* Sodom and Gomorrah, infamous Biblical cities* Sodom, Ontario, Canada* Mount Sodom or Mount Sedom, Israel* Mount Sudum and valley near Lund Khwar, Pakistan Lund Khwar#Holy war against the Sikh* Winschoten or Sodom, Netherlands...
at the southern tip of the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
. Vegetation in the vicinity of Nahal Zin is sparse, but the banks of the stream and occasional springs
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
along the way abound in reeds, juncus
Juncus
Juncus is a genus in the plant family Juncaceae. It consists of some 200 to 300 or more species of grassy plants commonly called rushes...
, atriplex
Atriplex
Atriplex is a plant genus of 100-200 species, known by the common names of saltbush and orache . The genus is quite variable and widely distributed. It includes many desert and seashore plants and halophytes, as well as plants of moist environments...
, and tamarix
Tamarix
The genus Tamarix is composed of about 50-60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa...
. Due to the lack of trees, local avifauna are typically ground-breeders. Geologists have determined that Nahal Zin used to flow northwest and drain into the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
via the Besor Stream; however, as the Jordan Rift Valley
Jordan Rift Valley
The Jordan Rift Valley is an elongated depression located in modern-day Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories. This geographic region includes the Jordan River, Jordan Valley, Hula Valley, Lake Tiberias and the Dead Sea, the lowest land elevation on Earth...
formed, it altered course
Knickpoint
A knickpoint is a term in geomorphology to describe a location in a river or channel where there is a sharp change in channel slope, such as a waterfall or lake, resulting from differential rates of erosion above and below the knickpoint. Differential rates of erosion can result from a change in...
dramatically and channeled its way northeast to the Dead Sea instead.
Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company
The Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline CompanyEilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company
The Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company operates several petroleum and petroleum products pipelines in Israel, most notably the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline. It also operates two oil terminal and depots in the country. The company was originally formed in 1968 as a 50/50% joint venture between Israel and...
operates several pipelines delivering oil and related products to and from the Port of Eilat
Port of Eilat
The Port of Eilat is the only Israeli port on the Red Sea, located at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba.-History:The Port of Eilat opened in 1957 and is today mainly used for trading with Far East countries. It allows Israeli shipping to reach the Indian Ocean without having to sail through the...
.
Nahal Zin fuel leak
On the morning of 29 June 2011, a backhoe loaderBackhoe loader
A backhoe loader, also called a loader backhoe, digger, or colloquially shortened to backhoe, is a heavy equipment vehicle that consists of a tractor fitted with a shovel/bucket on the front and a small backhoe on the back...
was engaged in maintenance work at a point where Nahal Zin intersects one of the oil pipelines operated by the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company (EAPC). It struck and ruptured the pipeline, causing some 1.5 million liters of jet fuel to gush out for several hours and leak into the surrounding soil. With an affected radius of half a kilometer around the rupture point and a depth of several meters, fears were raised that damage to the surrounding environment would be extensive. Within two weeks of the disaster, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority reported that vegetation on the Nahal Zin nature reserve had dried up.
Cleanup
In an initial bid to contain the situation, dams were set up to impede the flow of fuel downstream and a ditchDitch
A ditch is usually defined as a small to moderate depression created to channel water.In Anglo-Saxon, the word dïc already existed and was pronounced 'deek' in northern England and 'deetch' in the south. The origins of the word lie in digging a trench and forming the upcast soil into a bank...
was dug in order to coax the fuel back to a single point for pumping. EAPC was instructed to pump dry the puddles of jet fuel that had formed on the ground and to transfer the affected soil to a treatment plant for decontamination. Experts consulted to evaluate the extent of the damage estimated that cleaning up the area of the spill would take weeks to months, with fears that if the situation was not resolved by wintertime, rainfall would exacerbate it. A hydrologist
Hydrology
Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability...
from the University of Haifa
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa is a university in Haifa, Israel.The University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
estimated that, should it emerge that the 25-meter-deep aquifer
Aquifer
An aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
became polluted, it could take years for the area to be rehabilitated and cleansed of contaminants.
In August the Nature and Parks Authority reported that most of the cleanup operations had been completed and that work would soon begin to restore the scenery of the area. At the same time, senior contacts in the nature preservation community told Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
that the scale on which earth had been removed from the vicinity of the spill was excessive and had turned it into "a mining and quarrying site." An official Nature and Parks Authority report completed in late August indicated that the rehabilitation efforts had indeed taken an ecological toll on the site and seriously disrupted the routines of local wildlife.
EAPC and representatives from Israel's Ministry of the Environment held a ceremony marking the completion of cleanup efforts on 27 September. EAPC stated that it successfully restored the Nahal Zin area to its earlier state prior to the leak.
Reactions
EAPC denied responsibility for the disaster, stating that the driver of the backhoe loader was there by subcontract and that an on-site park rangerPark ranger
A park ranger or forest ranger is a person entrusted with protecting and preserving parklands – national, state, provincial, or local parks. Different countries use different names for the position. Ranger is the favored term in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Within the United...
had instructed him to transplant a tree. It attributed the accident to "profound incompetence" on the part of the park ranger and the driver.
Israel's Ministry of the Environment called the disaster the worst ever on an Israeli nature reserve. A spokeswoman for the ministry said that no automatic safety valves were ever installed as a precaution should a leak occur, and further charged EAPC with failing to ensure that it had vehicles capable of negotiating the terrain fast enough to deal with the leak before the fuel had a chance to be absorbed by the soil.
The chairman of the Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
Environment and Health Committee urged the government to adopt his recommendation for a revised Petroleum Law and radically alter its approach to fossil fuel-related environmental protection.
A spokeswoman for Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
in Israel called the disaster "a large, black flag" for Israel and said more needed to be done to end Israel's reliance on oil and to promote renewable energy alternatives.
Israel's Green Movement
The Green Movement (Israel)
The Green Movement is a social-environmental political party in Israel. Formed in 2008, it contested the 2009 elections in an alliance with Meimad.-History:...
co-chairman at Ben-Gurion University accused Israel's infrastructural institutions of being derelict both in protecting the nation's natural resources and in ensuring that adequate measures are in place for immediate cleanup efforts when they become necessary.
Second leak
On 5 September 2011 an EAPC pipeline was again ruptured as a result of maintenance work. A backhoe loader struck the pipeline at a location half a kilometer south of where the first leak occurred in June. EAPC workers promptly arrived at the scene and began sealing the pipeline. By evening, efforts were being undertaken to pump the leaked fuel out of the riverbed. The Ministry of Environmental Protection estimated that 100 m³ of jet fuel had leaked from the pipe. Minister Gilad ErdanGilad Erdan
Gilad Menashe Erdan is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Likud and as the country's Minister of Environmental Protection. He is currently the chairman of the Likud Youth.-Biography:...
called EAPC's actions "careless" and said he intends to demand that the EAPC Law, currently granting immunity to the company in environmental matters, be revised in order that EAPC may be held accountable for its actions.