Following Gaza military op, Environmental Protection Ministry reviews emergency readiness of industrial facilities housing hazardous materials
Avital Lahav
The recent fighting in Gaza has prompted the Environmental Protection Ministry to review the protective measures available to the various facilities processing and storing hazardous materials, Ynet has learned.
During and immediately after Operation Pillar of Defense, the Environmental Protection Ministry – directed by the Home Front Command – began surveying 22 hazardous material facilities in central and southern Israel.
The review aimed to inspect the facilities’ overall emergency readiness, their crisis-response protocols and damage control contingencies.
The ministry took a special look at facilities storing ammonia; as any direct hit suffered by them in the event of a military conflict could cause a hazardous leak resulting in severe air pollution.
The Environmental Protection Ministry has been performing emergency readiness evaluation of such facilities since the Second Lebanon War, when Hezbollah missiles threatened the Haifa Bay.
View original Ynet publication at: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4314619,00.html