Ministry accused of not enforcing pollution law

The State Comptroller’s report published today reinforces claims by environmental groups that the Environment Protection Ministry was not effectively enforcing legislation on the amount of pollution factories are allowed to emit.

The report says the ministry failed to monitor the emissions from chimneys and eschewed using the punitive measures within its purview against offenders. These include financial penalties as well as legal measures.

The report’s conclusions include the factories in the Haifa Bay area, which were at the focus of demonstrations by residents of the area during the past month.

The Environment Protection Ministry can sanction factories by the power of the Clean Air Law, which was enacted four years ago. It monitors the amount of pollution by testing samples which are supposed to be given by factories or by collecting samples during surprise visits by ministry inspectors.

According to Shapira’s report, neither type of sample was taken in sufficient amounts. In 2013, for examples, no surprise visits were made by inspectors to factories in Haifa, while in the two preceding years, the number of surprise visits was half the number projected by the ministry in its work plan.

In addition, Shapira writes that the ministry did not use its powers in penalizing offenders, especially the legal measures, which are considered a stronger deterrent since they would make factory managers personally responsible. In this aspect, however, the Haifa district excelled. Nearly half the inspections which developed into lawsuits on allegations of illegal pollution were filed against factories in the Haifa district.