On July 5, a ship working to remove old pipes from the seabed accidentally breaks a pipe, spilling oil into the waters of the Krayot area.
The Environmental Protection Ministry said the oil, that spilled over a radius of 1,200 meter in the Kiryat Haim and Haifa area, might reach the coasts of the Krayot—particularly Kiryat Yam—and urged the public to keep away from the spill area in the city’s beaches.
The ship that caused the pipe to burst belongs to Petroleum & Energy Infrastructures Ltd. (PEI). The company took responsibility over the incident, closed the leak in the pipe and is working to stop the oil from spreading further, as well as collected the oil already spilled. PEI estimated some 1-1.5 cubic meters of oil were spilled.
The head of the Marine Environmental Protection Division, Rani Amir said, “This isn’t a disaster, it’s small-scale sea pollution,” noting the spill could get as far north as Acre.
He explained, because of the poor condition of the Mandate-era pipes, a similar incident could occur, and in such a case, it’ll be dealt with accordingly.
The cleaning is expected to complete in a day or two.
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Source: Times of Israel
