Suspect arrested for setting fire to wastewater treatment plant near Be'er Sheva

Police arrested a suspect, a resident of the Bedouin diaspora, for setting fire to the "Shoket" wastewater treatment plant near Be'er Sheva. The fire broke out on the night between Thursday and Friday in the electrical room, on criminal grounds. The plant was shut down and about 30,000 cubic meters of raw sewage are flowing into Nahal Hevron and Be'er Sheva. Repairing the malfunction may take weeks.

Police arrested a suspect on Saturday, a resident of the Bedouin diaspora, for setting fire to the "Shoket" wastewater treatment plant near Be'er Sheva. The large fire broke out on the night between Thursday and Friday in the plant's electrical room, allegedly on criminal grounds. As a result, the plant was shut down and about 30,000 cubic meters of raw sewage are now flowing into Nahal Hevron and subsequently into Nahal Be'er Sheva, creating a significant environmental hazard. Repairing the malfunction may take several weeks. The incident raises suspicion of a connection to attempts to extort protection money in the area. According to information that reached sources familiar with the details, attempts were made recently to demand protection money from the corporation, but the demands were not met and the matter was brought to the police's attention. Following this, the attempts ceased for a certain period, and now there is suspicion they are resuming. The corporation's CEO, Khaled, is accompanied by a close bodyguard due to concerns for his safety. However, at this stage it has not been determined whether the arson is related to the extortion attempts. According to preliminary estimates, damage may amount to millions of shekels. The Ministry of Environmental Protection recommends that local authorities downstream notify residents of possible odor nuisances.