Treatment of Hazardous Waste

Today Israel's Internal Affairs and Environmental Protection Knesset committee, discussed the option of opening a new local toxic waste management site.

The first unpleasant revelation was the lag in Government ministries' duty to consult with each other, regarding elementary questions.

Different Government offices and non-governmental organizations share the responsibilities for protecting our health and environment. These include the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of National Infrastructures, the national Water Administration and many others. Ideally, communication between these offices should be open and direct, regarding new projects which could pose hazards to our health or environment. Treatment of toxic industrial waste is one such issue. One would expect the different ministries to consult with each other before the subject is discussed at Knesset, but they had not done this yet...

Participating in this meeting, we raised several points:

1. It makes sense that at some stage in the future, Israel may need a new toxic waste site. It is best to plan ahead of time and to do it right. Toxic waste is no joke.
2. Burial of waste is the FINAL stage in the cascade of events in waste management. The primary stages are monitoring the emissions at the source, to water, ground and air - and doing the utmost to prevent emissions at the source and pollution, using principles such as Legge's axioms - Substitution of hazardous materials with less hazardous ones, Enclosure/Separation of the procedure in closed-circle systems, etc.
3. Toxic waste must be treated and detoxified before it is sent to burial.
4. Long-term thinking may allow the site and environment around it to be rehabilitated at some stage in the future. The guiding principles are: Recycling, Recovery, Reuse, Restoration, Reclamation and Rehabilitation.
5. The public has a right to know what toxins are in our water, air and ground. The committee's memo mentioned that 3,000 factories emit toxic waste in Israel, while there are only 15 inspectors to see to it that they comply with regulations. Are all toxins monitored? Where can the public access this information?
6. The main lesson from the Kishon was: What happened to the Fish - Happened to the People. Monitoring what happens to plant life and wildlife around toxic waste sites can teach us a lot about potential hazards to human health.
7. The Government must have an effective plan to deal with potential emergency disasters, in which toxins spread in the environment. This is also relevant regarding Israel's plans to dig for natural gas.
8. Constructing many roads adds to the problem of waste management - the asphalt lowers the ground's ability to absorb, and the road itself adds pollution, dust and toxins, into the ground. During rain, roads promote flooding.

At the moment, this plan has been halted, many consultations must take place and many offices must confirm, before any action is taken.

Yael Stein MD