Air pollution from Haifa oil refineries necessitates relocation of school students for 24 hours

Following media reports of air monitoring showing that the Bazan oil refineries have emitted 3.3 times the permitted amounts of cancer-causing benzene near a high school in northern Israel’s Kiryat Ata, the Health Ministry orders that students from the Social High School and Arazim School be sent to facilities farther away from the refinery complex for 24 hours until the situation is reassessed.

In addition, the Health Ministry and Environmental Protection Ministry advise the public, especially children and pregnant women, to limit their time outdoors within a radius of one kilometer (0.6 of a mile) from the oil refineries, located in the Haifa Bay. Workers in Haifa’s industrial zone are advised to keep windows closed and to operate air conditioners.

According to a joint statement by the ministries, the high emissions stem from maintenance work and repairs to damage caused during two bouts of war with Iran in 2025 and 2026. Three workers were killed in June 2025 after an Iranian ballistic missile hit the complex.

After decades of public pressure to remove Bazan from Haifa, the facility is scheduled to relocate to the Negev in southern Israel at the end of this decade.