Israeli court allows Leviathan gas rig to run test emitting cancerous pollutants – HAARETZ
Drilling, which was supposed to commence on Tuesday, is expected to emit large quantities of pollutants including benzene, a carcinogen
Zafrir Rinat | Dec. 19, 2019 | 9:29 AM
An Israeli court overturned Thursday the temporary interim order that halted the test run drilling at the Leviathan natural gas field off the coast of Haifa.
The drilling, which was supposed to commence on Tuesday, is expected to emit large quantities of pollutants including benzene, a carcinogen.
The natural gas rig, whose lead partner is Houston-based Noble Energy, is located ten kilometers off Israel’s northern communities pertaining to Hof Hacarmel Regional Council. Noble Energy received a permit from the Environmental Protection Ministry to emit pollutants, appalling many residents of the area, some of whom decided to leave before the test run.
The ministry said it stands behind its decision to grant the permit; Environmental Protection Minister Zeev Elkin visited the site recently and told locals they had nothing to fear about the test run.
The Zalul Environmental Association and a number of local councils, including the Zichron Yaakov and Pardes Hannah-Karkur local councils, petitioned the court to cancel the drilling.
The petitioners claimed the permit granted by the Environmental Protection Ministry to operate the gas rig was flawed and its conditions would not protect the public properly.
Opponents claimed that the permit doesn’t require the continuous monitoring of pollutants such as benzene, but only periodic monitoring, which the petitioners say isn’t enough.
They added that Noble Energy cannot be trusted with monitoring pollutants because it puts the company in a conflict of interest since monitoring excessive emission of pollutants would require it to stop production.
When issuing the temporary injunction on Tuesday, Jerusalem District Court Judge Eli Abravanel ruled that the response of the Environmental Protection Ministry and Noble Energy to the petition weren’t elaborated enough, only providing partial information.
“Since the plaintiffs’ claims that delaying the decision on the petition might cause irreversible damage to public health were not rebutted a temporary order is issued, according to which the respondents will avoid any activity involving the emission of gas, and the permit [to drill will be frozen],” Abravanel said.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-court-overturns-order-to-freeze-leviathan-gas-rig-test-emitting-pollutants-1.8289920
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Israeli court delays gas rig test as locals decry threat of pollutants HAARETZ
The Leviathan facility, whose lead partner is Houston-based Noble Energy, was scheduled to begin test operations this week and emit pollutants such as benzene, a carcinogen
Zafrir Rinat | Dec. 18, 2019 | 3:13 AM
The Jerusalem District Court granted a petition Tuesday to delay the test run of the Leviathan offshore natural gas rig, responding to concerns that the facility would douse areas south of Haifa with cancer-causing pollutants.
The rig, whose lead partner is Houston-based Noble Energy and is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) off the coast, was scheduled to begin test operations this week, which would emit large quantities of pollutants including benzene, a carcinogen.
Noble Energy received a permit from the Environmental Protection Ministry to emit pollutants, appalling many residents of the area, some of whom decided to leave before the test run.
Among the localities that filed the petition with environmental group Zalul were Zichron Yaakov and Pardes Hannah-Karkur. Their demand for a delay of the test run was based on the claim that Noble Energy’s permit was faulty and did not protect the public.
“The court’s ruling is a victory for the residents who have lost their faith in the state authorities to protect their health,” Zalul said in a statement. The group said huge forces were at work to conceal the situation, “above all the environment and energy ministers, who have chosen to side with the companies drilling for oil and gas instead of serving the public interest.”
They said the permit did not require the continuous monitoring of pollutants such as benzene, and that the tasking of Noble Energy with monitoring pollutants was a conflict of interest.
Judge Eli Abravanel added that the response by the Environmental Protection Ministry and Noble Energy to the petition lacked detail. The court has scheduled its next hearing on the matter for Sunday.
For its part, Noble Energy said that “the Leviathan partnership accepts the honorable court’s decision, is studying it and is preparing to channel gas from Leviathan as soon as possible.”
The Environmental Protection Ministry said it stands behind its decision to grant the permit; Minister Zeev Elkin visited the site recently and told local people they had nothing to fear about the test run.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-court-delays-test-of-offshore-gas-rig-as-local-people-decry-threat-of-pollut-1.8286528
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Noble Energy fighting order to freeze Leviathan gas field – Jerusalem Post
The order also prevents the third stage of Leviathan’s operations from beginning, in which a poisonous amount of emissions would be emitted within a period of eight hours, according to the lawsuit.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF DECEMBER 18, 2019
Noble Energy went to court on Wednesday in an attempt to cancel a temporary injunction that was filed on Tuesday preventing the company from conducting “operations involving gas emissions” at the Leviathan gas field, according to Maariv.
The order, filed by Judge Eli Abarbanel at the Jerusalem District Court, temporarily froze the permit for gas emissions that had been granted to Noble by the Environmental Protection Ministry, Hebrew-language financial newspapers reported.
A hearing will be held on Sunday to address an application filed by the municipalities of Zichron Ya’acov, Jisr e-Zarka, Megiddo, Pardes Hanna and Emek Hefer, together with the Zalul Environmental Association.
Abarbanel wrote that the Environmental Protection Ministry and Noble had not succeeded in disproving the claim that the gas field would cause irreversible damage to public health if operations were not stopped.
The order prevents Noble from beginning the third stage of a test run at the gas field, which the application claims will cause emissions over eight days that would usually only be permitted over a period between 16 and 30 months.
https://www.jpost.com//Breaking-News/Leviathan-gas-field-ordered-to-pause-operations-due-to-health-concerns-611232