Israeli Ship Dumps Toxins in Mediterranean
From Greenpeace
Nicosia, Cyprus, 18 June 1998 - Greenpeace
activists in inflatables intercepted the Israeli ship
"Aribel" while it was pumping toxic sludge into
international waters off Haifa. The dumped material is very
acidic and contains heavy metals such as zinc, cadmium and
mercury. This is the only known systematic toxic dumping in the
world.(1)
Two Greenpeace inflatables marked the danger area with stick
lights alongside the Aribel. The activists in both inflatbles
held banners calling for the dumping to stop and called on the
dumper's radio demanding that it stops and returns to Haifa port.
The Aribel ignored the Greenpeace activists and continued with
its nighttime dumping.
The activists chartered a boat for the peaceful action. The
boat took off from Cyprus on June 14 and waited in the open sea
until activists in Israel informed them that the Aribel left
Haifa Port on Tuesday night. Greenpeace then proceeded to carry
out a peaceful direct action on the dumper to bring the issue to
world attention. They flew a banner that read "Danger -
Toxic Dumping Zone." The dumping has recently begun to take
place at night, which according to Greenpeace is an attempt to
hide evidence of this outdated polluting practice.
"For the first time the dumping operation has been
documented at sea and the blackish sludge photographed and filmed
to show the world how reckless the US-owned Haifa Chemicals is
when it comes to the Mediterranean Sea," said Mario Damato,
executive director of Greenpeace's Mediterranean office, after he
led the action on the Aribel.
"This polluting practice would not be allowed along the
US coastline, so why is it okay to do it in the
Mediterranean?"
Greenpeace is appealing to the Israeli government to end the
regular dumping of toxic sludge in the Mediterranean Sea in line
with the spirit of the current United Nations-declared "Year
of the Oceans." The international environmental organisation
has been campaigning against Israeli sea dumping since 1994. The
Israeli authorities twice promised to stop only to renew the
dumping permit just as it was about to expire.
Israeli Minister of Environment Rafael Eitan allowed the
US-owned Haifa Chemicals to dump another 60,000 tons of toxic
sludge in the Mediterranean until next October. (2)
Every time a sea-dumping permit is again issued, the
authorities claim a solution will be implemented soon. The
Israeli authorities also claim that the sludge of Haifa
Chemicals, is "treated remains of potash rock."
Scientific test results carried out by the Greenpeace
International laboratory at Exeter University in England prove
beyond doubt that samples taken from the Aribel also contain
toxic chemicals like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),
alkylated benzenes and haloganated alkanes. Dumping of such
material leads to serious pollution of local sea zones and
negatively impactc the marine ecosystems. (3)
"The sludge is so toxic that the company is not allowed
to pump it into the already very polluted Kishon River near
Haifa. It is an insult to all the people living in the region,
especially Cyprus, Egypt and Lebanon to see this poison being
dumped in international waters in their vicinity. Israeli
citizens are the most directly effected, but pollution knows no
borders," said Damato.
"We call upon all Mediterranean states to help us stop
this dumping and for them to stop the pollution their own
industry is creating in the fragile Mediterranean Sea," he
added.
"The sea dumping must stop once and for all. Haifa
Chemicals must finally implement clean production methods
eliminating the production of toxic materials at source,"
Damato demanded.
NOTES
- Israel is the only country known to be allowing routine
dumping operations of industrial wastes at sea in the
world. The London Convention (1972), the international
treaty that regulates the dumping of wastes worldwide,
bans the dumping of industrial wastes from ships
globally. Israel has not ratified this treaty. The
dumping of industrial wastes from ships is also
prohibited by the Barcelona Convention's 1995 protocol
that regulates Ocean dumping in the Mediterranean. But
Israel has not signed it because of its ongoing sea
dumping operations.
- Israeli Minister of Environment Rafael Eitan broke his
promise to stop all sea dumping when his ministry again
gave dumping permits to Haifa Chemicals. Eitan promised
last July that all sea dumping in Israel would stop by
the end of 1997. This public statement came shortly after
activists from the Greenpeace ship Sirius towed away from
Haifa port one of three barges used by Haifa Chemicals to
regularly dump toxic sludge in the sea. Former
Environment Minister Yossi Sarid had also broken a
promise to end the sea dumping.
- Three samples from the Kishon River mud and two from the
tank of the ship Aribel in Haifa Port were taken by
Greenpeace activists on April 13, before the ship dumped
its toxic content in the Mediterranean Sea. In addition,
the samples from the Aribel contained toxic chemicals
like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), alkylated
benzenes and haloganated alkanes. Cadmium, mercury, crude
oil and hydrocarbons which may be derived from petroleum,
and any mixture containing these, are included in the
Barcelona Convention "Protocol for the Prevention of
Pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by Dumping from Ships
and Aircraft" (UNEP 1992, 1995). According to this
protocol, the dumping of such wastes in the Mediterranean
is prohibited. Only Monaco and Tunisia ratified this
protocol. Israel and all other states in the basin did
not do so.
For more information contact Zeina Al-Hajj,
Greenpeace Medterraneaon, Lebanon, gp.med@greenpeace.org.lb
or visit the Greenpeace web site at http://www.greenpeace.org.
