Haifa factory gets $5 million fine for harmful emissions
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
The Environmental Protection Ministry slaps an NIS 18.7 million (just over $5 million) fine on the Carmel Olefins factory in Haifa, northern Israel, for breaching its emissions permit.
The ministry accused the plant, part of the Bazan oil refinery complex, of dragging its feet for 18 months over installing a system to reduce emissions from its steam tanks. The ministry notes this is one of the highest fines it has ever imposed on a company or factory.
Carmel Olefins manufactures polypropylene and polyethylene for the plastics industry. In 2017, the company was fined NIS 2.17 million (then worth around $600,000) for violating the Clean Air Act. In 2022, the ministry filed a criminal indictment against it for emitting nearly 100 tons of potentially harmful gases into the air and violating both its emissions permit and its business license. Bazan denied the latter allegations.
In March 2022, the cabinet voted to shut down Bazan within a decade to allow for the rehabilitation of the polluted Haifa Bay and its transformation into a clean, green, residential and business hub.
