Nature Authority to remove 40,000 tons of soil polluted in massive 2014 oil spill

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority this week began moving machinery into the Evrona Nature Reserve, just north of Eilat in southern Israel, to undertake the long-awaited removal of some 40,000 tons of soil polluted by a massive oil spill in 2014.

In December that year, some five million liters (1.32 million US gallons) of crude oil gushed into the hyper-arid reserve from a pipe owned by the Europe Asia Pipeline Company. The pipe broke at the entrance to the nearby Kibbutz Be’er Ora during work to relocate infrastructure prior to the construction of Ramon Airport.

Seasonal water channels over an area of 145 dunams (36 acres) were contaminated.

Research carried out by HaMaarag — the national ecosystem assessment program — found not only that oil was still present at varying depths, but also that while older acacia trees with deep root systems had survived, there were hardly any younger trees, indicating problems with germination and seedling development.

Acacias are a so-called keystone species on which multiple plants, animals, and microorganisms rely. These include gazelles, which obtain food and water mainly from acacia leaves in the summer.

Various cleanup techniques were tested on pilot plots in the reserve. One that used bacteria to break down the oil was eventually chosen but was only partially successful, according to Nitzan Segev, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority’s ecologist for the vast area stretching from the Dead Sea to Eilat.

Soil removal was initially avoided for fear it would change the delicate gradients along which water flows to plants, or harm the seed bank, Segev told The Times of Israel in February 2024.

Soil removal was nevertheless planned for that summer, but was delayed by bureaucracy and logistical issues, Segev said Monday.

Some 40,000 tons of earth along the contaminated streambeds will be removed, to a depth of 20 to 40 centimeters (eight to 16 inches), she said.

“The work will take a few months, because although it’s being done with tractors, it will have to be undertaken very carefully and slowly to ensure it’s just where the oil is and not in other stream channels. Every tractor driver will be accompanied by an inspector to show him exactly where to go and how to work, so as not to harm the acacia trees.”

Segev said the work would be finished in time for this winter’s flash floods. “We want the water channels to remain as they are so that nature can continue to do its thing,” she said.

The project, estimated to cost between NIS 7 million and NIS 8 million, ($2.5 to $2.8 million) will be financed by a compensation fund established by the Europe Asia Pipeline Company as part of a legal settlement.

Segev said the vegetation had been surveyed before the works and would be monitored afterward. She was not aware of comparable projects carried out elsewhere in the world, saying most oil leaks occurred at sea.

“We want to believe (the reserve) will regenerate once the seeds are dispersed and the first floods start,” she added. “This is a real experiment, and a very careful one, after years of checking and thinking and taking care not to damage anything.”