12 Years After the Oil Disaster: What's Happening in the Evrona Nature Reserve Now?

12 years after the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline oil spill in the Evrona Nature Reserve, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority is carrying out a complex rehabilitation project: removing about 30,000 tons of contaminated soil. So far, about 10 of the 144 affected dunams have been cleaned. A previous attempt at biological treatment with bacteria failed on a large scale. The authority hopes winter floods will complete the restoration.

In December 2014, the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline of the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company (EAPC) collapsed, and about 5,000 cubic meters of crude oil flowed into the heart of the Evrona Nature Reserve in the southern Arava. The oil swept through stream channels for about 7 kilometers and blackened about 144 dunams in the reserve. The disaster led to legal proceedings that resulted in EAPC paying over 100 million shekels in compensation, of which about 20 million were directed to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority for rehabilitation. Now, 12 years later, one of Israel's most complex rehabilitation projects for treating oil pollution in a nature reserve in an arid desert is underway. In the first phase, biological treatment using oil-degrading bacteria was tried, succeeding in a one-dunam pilot but failing on a larger scale. Now they are moving to physical removal of the soil: about 30,000 tons of contaminated soil, at a depth of 20 to 40 centimeters, will be removed to a licensed site. So far, about 10 of the 144 dunams have been cleaned, and work is expected to continue for several more months. The authority hopes that floods this coming winter will complete the natural restoration.