Explosion in Israel's Toxic Waste Dump

["greenbase" <greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org>]

EXPLOSION IN ISRAEL'S TOXIC WASTE DUMP
The solution is a clean up program, clean production
 
Tel Aviv, 26 February 1997 - An explosion took 
place today in Israel s national toxic waste dump in 
the Negev, prompting Greenpeace to reiterate its 
demand for a clean-up program there and for the 
introduction of clean production methods in all 
industrial processes.
 
Toxic smoke billowed over the Ramat Hovav dump 
after the explosion of toxic waste consisting of 
organo-phosphorous pesticides, commercially named 
 Cutnion . 
 
Ironically, the parliamentary Interior Affairs 
Committee during the same day held a hearing on 
Ramat Hovav. Greenpeace and people living near the 
dump attended it.
 
 We described to committee members the situation in 
Ramat Hovav, the dangerous way toxic materials are 
stored and the dangers to the people living there and 
to the environment,  said in Tel Aviv Ory Zik, 
Greenpeace Mediterranean Campaigner.  Hours later 
the explosion occurred in Ramat Hovav. 
 
The committee s chairman, deputy Salah Tarif, 
described at the hearing the situation in Ramat 
Hovav as  a time bomb .
 
Greenpeace calls on Israeli Premier Benjamin 
Netanyahu to cancel plans for a toxic waste 
incinerator in Ramat Hovav. Instead, the first step 
must be to characterize the toxic waste there and 
safely store it above ground. The long-term solution 
must be phasing out toxic materials in all industrial 
processes in the framework of a national clean 
production strategy. (1)
 
On February 20, the Greenpeace Mediterranean 
Office sent a letter to Netanyahu and to 
parliamentary members, warning them from a 
disaster in Ramat Hovav. (2)
 
For more information and visual material please 
contact in Tel Aviv Ory Zik, Israel Campaigner, or 
Tirtsa Kisch, ++ 972-3-5102079 or ++972-
52433694, emails: 
ory.zik@green2.greenpeace.org 
greenpeace.mediterranean@green2.greenpeace.org
 
NOTES: 
 
(1) Officially, some 7,000 factories produce in Israel 
annually about 100,000 tons of hazardous waste, 
with only a small portion of this dumped in Ramat 
Hovav. An additional thousands of tons of hazardous 
waste are illegally dumped in nature, in landfills, into 
rivers and in the Mediterranean Sea. The Ramat 
Hovav today hosts more than 50,000 tons of 
hazardous waste in huge ponds or in leaking and 
rusty barrels in the sand.
 
(2) A recent finding by the US Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) on Ramat Hovav 
confirmed Greenpeace s concerns that a tragedy 
could occur there any day. An EPA delegation said 
after visiting the dump that a major accident "with 
potentially serious consequences to human life and 
health" could take place in Ramat Hovav at any time. 
 
The so-called "solution" that Israeli officials are 
proposing for Ramat Hovav is a toxic waste 
incinerator expected to start operation this spring. 
This project will just escalate the current situation 
that turns the Negev into a "toxic sacrifice zone", and 
it will be a counter incentive to any waste 
minimization strategy.  Incinerators are a major 
source of toxic substances like dioxins and furans.