Battle of versions: Since early Wednesday morning, the Ministry of Environmental Protection's environmental hotline has received many inquiries regarding severe fire odor hazards in lowland areas including Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Shoham, Bareket and Petah Tikva. Now, the Ministry of Environmental Protection claims that, contrary to the claims of the Fire and Rescue Services, these are not controlled fires in Judea and Samaria.According to an analysis carried out by the Ministry of Environmental Protection's monitoring system, the possible source of air pollution is fires, apparently from the Rantis area, in the Palestinian Authority, where a pirate waste site is operated.
Burning waste in Judea and Samaria (archive), photo: Eli Brody
"The Ministry of Environmental Protection is very concerned about waste fires in the Palestinian Authority and their impact on the public and the environment, and is constantly in contact with the Civil Administration, which has all the authority to treat and burn waste in Judea and Samaria. The Director General of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Guy Smet, is currently at the scene of the fire, in order to ensure that the Civil Administration and the various entities are dealing with the issue. A tour of the area shows that most of the waste burned is construction waste," it said.
Shoham Mayor Eitan Pettigrew: "The smell of fire is terrorism for all intents and purposes. For years, Shoham, Modi'in and Rosh HaAyin have been warning and complaining about the poor treatment and suffering of the residents. Just as they neglected the treatment of Hamas, the government neglected the quality of the air we breathe, and now all the residents of the Dan region and the center feel it."
Data from national air monitoring stations showed increases in particulate and benzene concentrations in these areas. In addition, during these hours there are severe meteorological conditions, weak southeast winds that make it difficult to disperse air pollutants. The combination of fires and meteorological conditions leads to an increase in pollutant concentrations measured at monitoring stations.
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