Years of pollution allegedly originating from IDF activity at the Tel Hashomer base is liable to expose residents of the adjacent town of Kiryat Ono to carcinogens in the ground. The widespread contamination was only recently discovered, after a soil gas survey was conducted as part of the approval process for a residential project in the town. Most of the soil samples from the land zoned for the project had excessive concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons and hydrocarbons derived from fuels, which are known to be carcinogenic.
The land is zoned for two buildings with 80 apartments. Starting prices for a four-room garden apartment are NIS 2.5 million; NIS 2.04 million for a four-room apartment; NIS 2.5 million for a five-room apartment; and NIS 3.18 million for a five-room mini penthouse. The project is scheduled to be completed within 30 months.
Top Consulting and Engineering Ltd. conducted the survey in October 2013 at the order of the Ministry of Environment Protection. The volatile contaminants in the soil exceed permitted limits by hundreds or thousands of percent, as high as 10,000%. The hazardous materials found include the carcinogen trichloroethylene. One sample found 2,700 micrograms of this chemical per cubic meter of air, 100 times the permitted limit of 27 micrograms. Concentrations of benzene were found at 52 micrograms per cubic meter of air, compared with the permitted limit of 16 micrograms.
Top Ministry of Environmental Protection officials told "Globes" that such concentrations of these chemicals do not accumulate overnight, but take years. The ministry suspects that the source of the contaminants is illegal dumping of waste at a site adjacent to the planned residential project. Another suspect is the IDF Tel Hashomer base. "These are chemicals characteristic of laundries and metal treating systems at military industries," Ministry of Environmental Protection Tel Aviv District director Baruch Weber told "Globes".
The Tel Hashomer Base includes the production and assembly site of the Merkava Tank.
The latest survey is not the first time that the Ministry of Environmental Protection has suspected the IDF of being responsible for contamination of land in the environs of the Tel Hashomer base. A previous ministry report states that IDF activity at the base forced the closing of water wells at Sheba Medical Center Tel Hashomer
The IDF Spokesman Office said in response to the claims, "The IDF and the Ministry of Environmental Protection have an open, permanent and continuous line on all environmental protection matters. The results of the survey in question and the ministry's claims of soil contamination caused by IDF activity in the area are not proven. The claims will be examined by the relevant parties in accordance with an official request."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 22, 2014
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