Environment Ministry upbraids ice cream factory after Acre ammonia leak
Environmental protection body demands explanation for failure of cooling system after chemical leakage closes streets, trains and shopping mall
The Ministry of Environmental Protection on Thursday prohibited an ice cream factory from using a cooling system that leaked ammonia earlier in the day. The incident in the northern city of Acre forced the closure of streets, railways and a shopping mall.
“Following the ammonia leak today, the Ministry of Environmental Protection immediately banned the Unilever Ice Cream Factory in Acre (Strauss Ice Cream Brand) from operating the leaking cooling system, which uses ammonia for cooling purposes,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The plant needs to provide the ministry with explanations as to why the measures that were supposed to be taken to reduce ammonia concentrations did not work, nor prevent the incident,” the ministry added.
The ministry said it would not approve use of the faulty cooling system until further notice.
A shopping mall was evacuated and residents of some areas of Acre were told to stay indoors earlier in the day following the ammonia leak from a factory operated by the Strauss Group.
Areas of the city were closed off by police as emergency services worked to contain the leak and identify its source.
Three people were treated after complaining of burning in their eyes.
Trains were stopped between Acre and the nearby city of Nahariya.
By early evening police said in a statement that all restrictions on movement around the area were removed after the source of the leak was located, sealed off, and measures taken to dilute the leaked material.
On Sunday, an ammonia leak at a factory in the Har Tuv industrial zone near the central city of Beit Shemesh led to the evacuation of the plant and the closure of a nearby intersection.
Last month, an ammonia leak in the city of Haifa, just 500 meters (550 yards) from a residential area, prompted Mayor Einat Kalisch-Rotem to announce a zero-tolerance policy on industrial mishaps.
Last year a court fined Haifa Chemicals NIS 500,000 ($139,000) for operating an ammonia tank for decades without a license, and issued a final closure order for the tank. That controversial tank was emptied in 2017, after a High Court ruling, following a years-long struggle between the company and local residents concerned over the environmental risks.
The court decision to close the 12,000-ton-capacity tank came after local officials warned that tens of thousands of people could die should it rupture, and that even more would be at risk if a monthly delivery ship that brought ammonia to the tank from abroad were to be hit by a missile.
The terror group Hezbollah has in the past threatened to target the tank with rockets in any future conflict with Israel.
On Sunday, State Comptroller Yosef Shapira warned that the Israel Fire and Rescue Services is unprepared to deal with a potential leak of dangerous substances that could create a chain reaction with nearby factories in Haifa.
