The Ministry of Environmental Protection has recently awarded a tender for clean up of asbestos waste in the Galilee and Nahariya and it is anticipated that within weeks operations will begin in the Western Galilee.
Amit Bracha, IUED executive director points out that IUED has pressed for action on asbestos waste in the Galilee for nearly a decade.
“We are pleased that our legal intervention spurred the Environmental Ministry to action and that a professional clean up agency will be removing friable waste. He believes it is long overdue, as is the new law being drafted by the Ministry for Environmental Protection to prevent and remediate environmental and public health hazards from asbestos waste.
“We are closely monitoring developments. Recently, we submitted 15 specific comments on clauses in the bill with the aim of making the proposed law clearer and, above all, an effective instrument in protecting public health."
“We are also urging lawmakers to include in the bill a very precise and limited timeframe for clean up operations. Enough years have been wasted in bureaucratic wrangling about responsibility and budgets, and it’s high time for inhabitants of the Galilee and Nahariya to be free of exposure to life-threatening asbestos.”
The joint petition filed by IUED and the Association for Quality of Life & Environment in Nahariya ('AQLEN') caused the Ministry for Environmental Protection to set up a new coordinating body to implement a clean up of asbestos waste in Nahariya.
IUED and AQLEN filed in the Haifa Administrative Court against the Ministry for Environmental Protection and the City of Nahariya, after the City returned to the Treasury a grant of several million shekels designated for clean up of asbestos waste throughout the town. The mayor refused the funds because to do so would confer responsibility for asbestos clean up on the municipality rather than on the government. In his opinion, the problem in the town is so widespread that only a government-driven campaign will bring about change.
The case is currently on hold pending implementation of the government's clean up strategy.
Background to the case: Asbestos Blight in Nahariya
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