Work to contain an oil spill in Haifa Bay, July 5, 2016. (Environment Protection Ministry)
The Interior Ministry declared Wednesday that beaches in the Haifa area were safe for swimming, a day after they were closed due to a large oil spill.
In a statement, the ministry said that the Kiryat Yam and Kiryat Haim beaches had been reopened with the permission of the Health Ministry, which had checked the water and found it to be clean.
The beaches were closed Tuesday after an oil spill polluted Haifa Bay. A ship upgrading the pipeline hit an old fuel supply line, which ruptured, releasing several thousand liters of oil into the water.
The current carried the slick toward the shore and northward, prompting the closure of beaches north of Haifa as emergency crews worked to contain and clean the spill.
Haifa, home to Israel’s largest seaport, is also a center of chemical production plants and oil refineries.
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The spill happened during maintenance work to replace old pipelines operated by the Petroleum and Energy Infrastructures company.
A ship at sea works to clean up an oil spill in Haifa Bay, July 5, 2016. (Environment Protection Ministry)
“In cooperation with, and under the instructions of, the Environmental Protection Ministry, the company is removing old fuel lines from the sea,” the company said in a statement. “During the work, a flexible pipe was hit and oil spilled into the sea.”
It said that, in view of the high chance of a leak occurring, an emergency team had already been on standby together with suitable equipment to deal with a spill, and that the group immediately addressed the problem.
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