A massive acid spill from the ICL Rotem plant polluted the Ashalim Creek west of the Dead Sea in 2017 and caused serious damage to fauna and flora along the riverbed
Ilana Curiel
ICL — the Israel-based multi-national powerhouse in fertilizers and specialty chemicals — announced that a settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit filed against it for the 2017 Ashalim Creek disaster, which caused major environmental damage in Israel’s southern region.
In a message released on Wednesday, the company said it will pay NIS 115 million ($33 million) to rehabilitate Ashalim Creek and to compensate the public for the environmental damage caused. This is the highest fine ever imposed on a company in Israel for environmental damage through pollution.
The settlement was reached through mediation between the company and the plaintiffs and the Nature and Parks Authority, and will be submitted to a court soon.
According to the settlement, ICL Rotem — a subsidiary that mines phosphate rock from deposits in the Negev desert, will pay the fine, which also includes the legal expenses of the parties. The plaintiffs originally sought approximately NIS 400 million ($116 million).
(Photo: Mark Katz, Israel Nature and Parks Authority)
The Ashalim disaster took place in June 2017, when a massive acid spill polluted the Ashalim Creek west of the Dead Sea, and caused serious damage to fauna and flora along the riverbed. The source of the pollution was a leak of high-acid gypsum from a pool at the Rotem plant in Rotem Plateau in the south of Israel.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection opened a criminal investigation against the plant and its parent company following the incident.
The message released by ICL, titled “ICL Rotem settled all claims regarding the ‘incident’ of Ashalim 2017,” stated that the mediation process had been completed and a settlement agreement has been signed.
The final compensation fee adds up to a total of 107 million NIS: 31 in compensation for the ecologic damage to the local nature reserve and for funding environmental projects, 75 million will be invested in rehabilitation of the reserve, 13 million makes up for the attorneys’ fees (half of which will be returned to the public), and 1.5 million will go towards establishing a fund for residents to manage environmental struggles in the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea.
This is the highest sum of compensation in an environmental case recorded in Israel.
(Photo: Mark Katz, Israel Nature and Parks Authority)
The Ashalim Creek (Nahal Ashalim) flows through an area designated as a nature reserve and managed by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. It is inhabited by rare animals and endangered plant species and is home to one of the most sought-after hiking trails in the region. Amongst the damage caused as a result of spill, about a third of the area’s ibex population was killed in the incident.
“The agreement that was signed does environmental justice to the residents of the State of Israel and to the environment,” said Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg. “The ICL Rotem company that contaminated the Ashalim Creek, in one of the biggest ecological disasters that Israel has ever seen, will compensate the society, the environment, and the nature that were damaged in the event.”
(Photo: Mark Katz, Israel Nature and Parks Authority)
Raya Shurki, the CEO of Israel Nature and Parks Authority, also commented on the ensuing legal processes, stating that “the nature in Israel is paying the heavy price of environmental pollution.
“It takes many years, if at all, for ecosystems to recover from this. We have widespread rehabilitation work to do, the signed settlement agreement will make it possible to carry out actions in cooperation with the relevant parties.”