PHOTOS: Israel Hit With Massive 600,000 Gallon Oil Spill

[bemildred]

A nature reserve has been flooded with oil and more than 80 people have been hospitalized from exposure to toxic fumes after approximately 600,000 gallons of crude oil spilled from a pipeline in southern Israel on Wednesday, according to media reports there.

The massive spill, which resulted from a breach in the 153-mile Trans-Israel pipeline, has been described as “one of the gravest pollution events in the country’s history.” That’s according to Israel Environmental Protection Ministry official Guy Samet, who also said the spill could take months, maybe years, to fully clean up.

“This is one of the State of Israel’s most serious pollution events,” Samut told Israel Radio. “We are still having trouble gauging the full extent of the contamination.”

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/12/04/3599861/israel-oil-spill/

[Rhiannon12866]

1. How awful!

I was just reading about this last night. This (NBC) link includes a short video:

Israel Oil Spill: 600,000-Gallons Lost in Eilat Pipeline Breach
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-oil-spill-600-000-gallons-lost-eilat-pipeline-breach-n261386

TEL AVIV — 600,000 gallons of crude oil leaked from a breached pipeline in southern Israel on Thursday in what officials said was one of the worst environmental disasters in the country's history. The spill in the Eilat region was caused by "the systematic failure" of construction workers who were upgrading the pipeline, according to Guy Samet, southern chief of the country's Ministry of Environmental Protection.

The spill covered an area five miles in length in the the Beer Ora region of Eilat, Samet told NBC News, adding: "We are talking about 3,000 cubes of raw oil that was spilled, which is the equivalent to three million liters [about 660,000 gallons]." It leaked into rivers and streams and appeared to have flooded part of the Evrona nature reserve, a statement from the Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection said, but it had been prevented from reaching the nearby Jordanian border. "A full clean-up and rehabilitation will take a few years," Samet said. "We can call this a natural disaster that is causing huge damage to the environment. We are talking about one of the biggest natural disasters Israel has experienced." Three people were injured in the spill and were admitted to hospital, said police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld.

[bemildred]

2. Massive oil spill almost twice the size initially thought

Over five million liters of crude oil that flooded into Arava desert threaten to contaminate Eilat coral reefs

http://www.timesofisrael.com/massive-oil-spill-almost-twice-the-size-initially-thought/