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Israel’s ministry orders Haifa Ammonia plant shutdown after Hezbollah threats

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Haifa ammonia plant
Haifa ammonia plant

Israel’s environment ministry said Wednesday it would not renew the license of an ammonia container in the northern city of Haifa, less than 10 days after a court ordered it be emptied, Israeli media reported on Wednesday

The container, which can hold 12,000 tonnes of the toxin, put the public “at a risk we cannot accept”,the ministry said  said in a statement.

This development comes after  Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said the ammonia container would be like “a nuclear bomb” if hit by his militant group’s missiles.

The ministry banned Haifa Chemicals from refilling the container as of March 1.

It was, however, granted another three months to distribute the material to relevant industries as alternative sources of ammonia are located.

The decision, which follows a hearing by the ministry in December, comes after a local Haifa court accepted the municipality’s appeal and ruled on February 13 that the container must be emptied within 10 days.

Haifa Chemicals had appealed the ruling, with a new court hearing set for February 26.

A spokesman for Haifa municipality said they would continue to insist to the court that the container be emptied without delay.

Ehud Keinan, a chemistry professor who headed a group of experts behind a report presented to the court, said the container posed a clear and present threat even without Nasrallah’s firepower.

Keinan, president of the Israel Chemical Society, said residents of Haifa and the area faced a danger each month when a tanker arrived to fill the container.

If the boat leaked, thousands of tons of ammonia would react on impact with the sea, creating a toxic cloud that could impact anyone within a 20-kilometer radius, Keinan said.

The material is supplied to nearby plants by pipes or trucked off to other more distant parts of Israel. Almost all the stored ammonia was re-exported by Haifa Chemicals in the form of fertilizers.

Keinan said the 31-year-old container had never been thoroughly inspected and would not withstand the impact of a projectile.

Nasrallah, whose group targeted the Haifa area in a 2006 war with Israel, echoed warnings from experts and activists cited in Israeli media that “tens of thousands of people” would be killed in case the container was struck.

 

 

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21 responses to “Israel’s ministry orders Haifa Ammonia plant shutdown after Hezbollah threats”

  1. Barry Avatar
    Barry

    Irony: HA improving Israelis’ quality of life!

    1. Helen4Yemen Avatar
      Helen4Yemen

      And who are these Israelies?

      1. vs Avatar
        vs

        living in Haifa

    2. Niemals Avatar
      Niemals

      We have to many Kernreaktoren around the big cities, fortunately not the Russian 440 MW VVER-440 Greifswald reactors as in MV.
      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/52db31f3ca79a8565b14baca33d5c395e9f7bece61d3c41053c24690caa79dba.jpg Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition announced on 30 May 2011, that 17 nuclear power stations will be shut down by 2022 (long time…), in a policy reversal following Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

  2. Helen4Yemen Avatar
    Helen4Yemen

    https://i2.wp.com/worldpeace365.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/theft-of-palestine.png?ssl=1&w=900

    1. Rascal Avatar
      Rascal

      STFU loser

      1. TecumsehUnfaced Avatar
        TecumsehUnfaced

        You’re claiming that you enjoyed having your country overrun with thugs?

        1. Rudy1947 Avatar
          Rudy1947

          The acronym of STFU has nothing to do with any country or thugs.

          1. Rascal Avatar
            Rascal

            I am unsure their comprehension level when they get all that from STFU?

          2. Rudy1947 Avatar
            Rudy1947

            Amen!

          3. Rascal Avatar
            Rascal

            They could even be the same person multiple accounts, Seems to be a trait of these kind of “people”. It is all about their deception and disinformation.

        2. Rascal Avatar
          Rascal

          I am responding to the Iranian above that is fixated on Palestinians and rooting for Houthi savages.

          1. TecumsehUnfaced Avatar
            TecumsehUnfaced

            Who ate your mind with that silliness?

          2. Jack Avatar
            Jack

            TecumsehUnfaced and Helen4yemen admire the Yemenite Houthi killers

            This is the latest UN Human rights report report from Oct 2016

            You must be very proud of your Houthi killers and your ” Islamic unity”

            Houthi and allied forces laid numerous landmines, including banned antipersonnel mines, in Yemen’s southern and eastern governorates of Aden, Abyan, Marib, Lahj, and Taizz since the beginning of the current conflict. Landmines have killed and wounded dozens of civilians, including children.

            Houthi and allied forces have used artillery rockets in indiscriminate attacks in the southern cities of Aden, Taizz, Lahj, and al-Dale’a.

            Since March 2015, Human Rights Watch has documented seven indiscriminate attacks by Houthi and allied forces in Aden and Taizz that killed 139 people, including at least 8 children.

            Shelling by the Houthi-aligned Popular Committees and army units loyal to former president Saleh was responsible for killing 475 civilians and wounding 1,121 between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016, according to the UN.

            Houthis have also launched artillery rockets into the Najran and Jazan regions in southern Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities said 29 civilians had been killed and 300 injured in Najran in August alone due to cross-border shelling.

            Houthi forces, government and pro-government forces, and other armed groups have used child soldiers, an estimated one-third of the fighters in Yemen. The UN found in 2015 that 72 percent of 762 verified cases of child recruitment were attributable to the Houthis, with an overall five-fold increase in recruitment of children and a shift towards forced or involuntary recruitment.

  3. Helen4Yemen Avatar
    Helen4Yemen

    https://i2.wp.com/worldpeace365.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/israelies.png?ssl=1&w=900

    1. Rudy1947 Avatar
      Rudy1947

      You spelled it wrong, not surprising. It’s Israelis.

      1. Rascal Avatar
        Rascal

        Yes, and that is an Iranian agent. Here to spread lies.

        1. Rudy1947 Avatar
          Rudy1947

          Can’t spell worth a crap either. Too much interbreeding.

  4. vs Avatar
    vs

    (offtopic) The victims of the terrorist attacks more than 30 people were in the Syrian Homs http://sana.sy/en/?p=100880

  5. vs Avatar
    vs

    (GT) The new leader of the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza Yahya
    Sanuar on Friday, February 24, along with his predecessor, Ismail
    Haniyeh participated in the opening of a new mosque in Rafah.

    At
    the same time the event Haniyeh remained “person number 1”, since it is
    considered the successor to Khalid Mashaal as chairman of the Hamas
    Political Bureau. Sanuar clearly emphasized its subordinate position in relation to
    Haniyeh, although accepted congratulations on his election victory.

    New
    Mosque in Rafah was built under the auspices of the Falestinian
    “Islamic Society” ( “Al-Jama’ah al-Islamiyah”), established in 1979 by
    Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was the prototype of a militant “resistance of
    the Islamic Movement” ( “Kharak al-Mukauma al -Islami “Hamas), which was founded in 1987.

    This
    mosque was named Raed Atara – one of the commanders of the southern
    front in the “team Izaddina al-Qassam,” the Israeli Air Force destroyed
    21 August 2014, during “Operation Enduring rock” http://newsru.co.il/pict/slide/897505.html

  6. vs Avatar
    vs

    Lebanese demonstrators staged a protest at the border of Israel and Lebanon http://newsru.co.il/mideast/25feb2017/lebanon809.html

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