Dangers of Israel's Fossil-Fuel Policies:
Health & Environment
WHEN EVERYTHING GOES ‘RIGHT’ (during routine operations…)
Gas rigs are petrochemical plants. Their pollution depends on the crude gas amount, composition, and processing methods. However, production generally emits high levels of benzene and other carcinogens into the air, and mercury, cadmium, lead, and other metals to the sea. Processing also yields a byproduct called condensate, which is highly volatile and carcinogenic. Israel’s Leviathan and Tamar rigs produce thousands of barrels of condensate daily.
AND WHEN THINGS GO WRONG…
Malfunctions at any location in Israel’s energy infrastructure, including spontaneous structural failures, earthquakes, war, and acts of terror, can have dire consequences:
- Spills and burning of toxic materials causing mass ecosystem destruction
- Acute danger to adjacent populations
- Forced shutdowns of power and desalination plants
- Long-term beach contamination and closures
Israel’s gas-processing platforms, supporting pipelines, and on-land storage facilities are close to shore and within populated regions nationwide.
Haifa Bay refineries have impacted residents for decades, causing morbidity and mortality. The new Leviathan gas rig south of Haifa is only six miles off Israel’s northern shore. The Tamar platform is 14 miles from the southern city of Ashkelon, with an additional reception terminal in nearby Ashdod.
The proposed EAPC’s (Europe-Asia Pipeline Company) initiative to turn Israel into a crude oil carrier from the Persian Gulf to Europe will place additional petrochemical facilities in the heart of residential communities. The receiving station would be inside the vital tourist city of Eilat, adjacent to its world-unique coral reef nature reserve. Subsequent pipelines would transport the oil hundreds of kilometers through the Negev and Arava to the EAPC terminal in Ashkelon.
The oil would then be reloaded onto tankers for shipment to southern Europe. This initiative will turn the cities of Eilat and Ashkelon into hubs for oil and liquid natural gas. Experts are concerned that the EAPC plan will exacerbate air pollution and potentially decimate Israel’s renowned coral reef, the world’s only reef largely spared by climate change.
(See letter signed by over 200 local and international scientists).
The following lists concerns to air and water sources from Israel’s energy facilities.
Air Pollution
Air Pollution
- Air pollution is a leading problem in Israel, causing over 2,000 premature deaths annually. Pollution levels are well above the World Health Organization’s recommended limits. Moreover, Israel’s Environment Ministry assesses pollution-related health and other damages at a staggering NIS 31 billion annually.
- Studies show higher cancer rates near Haifa’s petrochemical facilities.
- Experts warn that the nearshore Leviathan rig may expand pollution hotspots to the Carmel region.
- Israel’s Environment Ministry rejected Noble Energy’s first Leviathan rig emissions request after an investigation showed that the platform would feature six times more potentially polluting equipment than reported.
- A later report, published in the prestigious Environmental Impact Assessment Review, determined that Noble Energy “grossly underestimated” Leviathan’s polluting air emissions.
- In December 2020, Israel’s Environment Ministry fined Chevron-Noble Energy over NIS 3.2 million (around $983,000) for Leviathan air emissions reaching 120 – 180% the permitted amount.
- The ministry also accused Noble Energy-Chevron of several violations relating to breakdowns requiring the rig’s emergency flare operation.
- The Leviathan rig has experienced over 100 breakdowns in less than two years (an average of one breakdown per week).
- One event posed mortal danger according to a report by British engineering firm RPS.
- The Tamar gas rig 14 miles from the southern cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon began operations in 2013, operated for six years without an emissions permit, and in 2016, was found to be emitting more carcinogens than all of Israel’s factories combined.
- These emissions were thirty times the levels predicted by Noble Energy.
- Air pollution levels have also risen drastically in Ashdod and Ashkelon over recent years, marked by a parallel increase in cancer rates.
- Studies have yet to determine a potential link between the two (this form of research takes years). However, part of the pollutants currently monitored for are known carcinogens, including benzene.
Threat to Water Sources
Threat to Water Sources
"The pipes connecting the Tamar and Leviathan wells to their processing platforms are among the longest worldwide and apply a problematic technology known as tie-back. Generally used for only highly specific cases, tie-back requires an anti-freeze agent that blocks up pipes and considerably increases air and sea pollution during processing and in case of a spill.”
- Desalinated water currently supplies most of Israel’s drinking and industrial water usage. In 2017, an oil spill from an aging pipe near the city of Ashdod forced the closure of three out of Israel’s five desalination plants.
- The Leviathan gas rig is only nine miles from a desalination plant providing the annual water needs of over one million (of Israel’s nearly 9.5 million residents).
- Experts warn that a largescale spill could shut down this plant. The rig also produces thousands of barrels of (highly toxic) condensate daily. The barrels are pumped over vital groundwater reserves and through population centers before export. Even a small-scale condensate spill will contaminate groundwater, soil, and air.
- Additionally, the Leviathan rig permit currently allows for an adjacent tanker containing up to 600,000 barrels of condensate. If implemented, this scenario will significantly increase spill risks from routine operations, malfunctions or terror.
"Even a small-scale condensate spill of a few meters-cubed can pollute millions of cubic meters of water… shutting down the water system and causing significant damage to the soil, desalination plants, nature reserves, fish farms and farmlands."
"The pipes connecting the Tamar and Leviathan wells to their processing platforms are among the longest worldwide and apply a problematic technology known as tie-back. Generally used for only highly specific cases, tie-back requires an anti-freeze agent that blocks up pipes and considerably increases air and sea pollution during processing and in case of a spill.”
Take Acti
n
Help transition Israel to life-saving clean energy
Take Actin
Please help transition Israel to life-saving clean energy
In the News
Is Haifa Bay air pollution linked to cancer? Israeli study suggests so
The Jerusalem Post, August 2, 2022
2017 oil spill closed three desalination plants for three days, official reveals
Times of Israel, March 19, 2021
Keep ‘unreliable, immoral’ Chevron Corp. out of Israel, activists urge MKs
Times of Israel, July 27, 2020
Haifa’s cancer morbidity blamed on refinery pollution
Jerusalem Post, October 9, 2018
Haifa’s Oil Refineries Ltd. tops worst environmental offenders list… again
Times of Israel, October 20, 2021
UAE pipeline deal will imperil Eilat’s critical coral reefs, scientists warn
Times of Israel, January 11, 2021
International environmental groups unite to warn Israel against Chevron
Times of Israel: September 9, 2020
Read more about the dangers of Israel's fossil fuel policies to health & environment:
- Leviathan gas rig breakdowns
- What Experts are Saying
- Israel Ministry of Environment 2021 report: Air pollution costs NIS 31 billion annually.