Zafrir Rinat June 24 2020

Mining of oil shale ‘could lead to significant and irreversible damage to the environment, including air and groundwater pollution,’ top official says

Pumpjacks operating at the Kern River Oil Field, in Bakersfield, Calif., June 2015.
Pumpjacks operating at the Kern River Oil Field, in Bakersfield, Calif., June 2015.Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File

The Health Ministry has informed planning authorities that it opposes a proposed fracking project in the Negev due to environmental and public health concerns. The ministry’s chief of public health services, Prof. Siegal Sadetzky, conveyed the ministry’s position to the Southern District Planning and Building Committee, which is discussing the project.

The Rotem Energy Mineral company is seeking a permit to mine 18 million tons of oil shale per year from the Mishor Rotem region in the Negev. The company submitted its plan to the district planning and building committee, which announced last month that the chances of granting the permit were slim to low due to the environmental impact of the project. However, the committee approved the company’s request to conduct an environmental impact survey as part of the approval process. LISTEN: Bibi Eyes ‘Annexation Lite’ as Pandemic Panic Returns

Outlining the ministry’s opposition to the plan in a letter to the planning committee, Sadetzky wrote: “The mining of oil shale and the production of liquid fuel are long and complex processes that could lead to significant and irreversible damage to the environment, including air and groundwater pollution, destruction of open spaces, etc. This raises an essential concern over possible harm to public health.”

The National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Ministry and the Environmental Protection Ministry recently jointly decided not to approve new fracking projects in the future. However, they excluded projects that were already in the planning stages, such as the Mishor Rotem project.

Mishor Rotem is believed to have 245 million tons of oil shale reserves, from which 135 million tons of oil can be extracted.

Environmental activists welcomed the Health Ministry’s decision but criticized the fact that the plan was under discussion at all. The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel said: “The oil shale development initiative is a tangible threat to quality of life, quality of the environment and the ecosystem in Israel. It is unclear how these projects, promoted with the blessing and approval of the state, conform to the government’s obligation to reduce polluting greenhouse gases.”