Work starts on removing polluting oil tanks near homes and school in north

Plans to turn the polluted Haifa Bay into a clean, green residential and business hub for northern Israel took a step forward Wednesday when Energy Infrastructures, Israel’s national infrastructure company for the petroleum and energy sector, began dismantling a complex of massive, foul-smelling crude oil tanks that back onto homes and a school.

The company is starting by demolishing the northernmost row of nine tanks, closest to Degania Street in the Haifa neighborhood of Kiryat Haim.

As part of the bay rehabilitation plan, the 840-dunam (205-acre) tank site will one day be replaced by a broad, clean, bathing beach, with cafes and restaurants, in the style of the Tel Aviv Port area.

Slightly further inland on the same plot, nine clusters of high-density residential buildings and other public services structures are being planned, linked by bike and walking paths. Taking inspiration from Barcelona, the superblocks will leave mechanized transportation, including cars, outside and create walkable, campus-like urban spaces inside.

A spokesman for Energy Infrastructures explained that the tanks hold crude oil and distillates, which arrive at Haifa’s port and are channeled to the site along pipelines.

Plans are to build a new distillates port, construct a subterranean storage site either north or south of Haifa, and remove all the old tanks and clean up the site by 2035. At that point, the site will be handed over to the Israel Lands Authority for sale to developers.

He added that it would take 18 months to remove the first nine tanks and clean the soil.

At a ceremony to mark the start of the tank farm’s removal, Energy Minister Eli Cohen hailed the “historic news” for the residents of the north, which he said would improve quality of life and accelerate the area’s development.

Energy Infrastructures chairman Haim Avitan said, “Today’s demolition is not just the end of an era but the beginning of a new one, with modern infrastructure, energy security, and the evacuation of strategic areas for the benefit of the entire public.”

Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav said, “We are beginning to see evacuation, rehabilitation, and the start of a new future, which will change the face of the area and make it prosperous.”

Residents and non-governmental groups have long campaigned for the bay’s heavy industries to be shuttered in light of studies suggesting a link between pollution in the Haifa Bay area and cancer, as well as infant disorders such as smaller-than-average heads and relatively low weight.

Four years ago, the cabinet decided to shut down the city’s dirty industries within a decade, chief among them the massive Bazan oil refinery complex and the oil storage facility. A Directorate for the Development of Haifa Bay was created within the Prime Minister’s Office. It designed a work plan through 2030 and is operating based on it.

One of the key questions remains whether, and when, the Bazan refinery will be shut down. The refinery’s owners do not want to close and are trying to get a permit to build additional infrastructure there.

Speaking on Tuesday, Avihu Hahn, Haifa’s deputy mayor and chairman of the Haifa Bay Cities Association for Environmental Protection, said, “We will continue to closely monitor the implementation of the agreement to close the farm, on the way to the full implementation of Government Resolution 1231 to evacuate all polluting and dangerous industries from Haifa Bay.”

Lihi Shahar Berman, CEO of the cities association, who has spent most of her adult life campaigning to clean up the Haifa Bay, said, “For decades, the tanks have stood in the heart of a residential neighborhood, posing a clear and tangible danger to the safety and health of the residents living nearby, in an area where, according to Health Ministry reports, there is a 1,650% cancer incidence, higher than the national average.

“The beginning of the demolition of the tanks is the first step toward clearing the entire tank farm and removing all polluting hazards from Haifa Bay, primarily the petrochemical plants of the Bazan Group. The Haifa Bay Cities Association for Environmental Protection will continue to work with determination to build a cleaner, safer, and healthier future for all residents of the area.”