Judge: "Residents' concerns are not disproved" • Noble Energy: "Study the decision"

• Whale rig // Photo: Noble Energy

The Jerusalem District Court has ordered a halt to run the Whale gas rig at least until this Sunday.

Judge Eli Abarbanel wrote in his decision, among other things, that the Ministry of the Environment and Noble Energy, the central partner in the Leviathan gas rig, did not dispel the concerns of the region's residents about the irreversible health danger that the public would face if the operation continued. The decision was made before the date of the settlement, which was due to start tomorrow and during the 48 hours after which the facilities are expected to operate at an unusual rate.

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The rig is located about 10 km west of Dor Beach, and residents in the area threatened to evacuate masses if the facilities are operated. According to them, the amount of pollution that will be emitted during those 48 hours of run is equivalent to that emitted for more than a year after the rig began its regular operations and that the permit does not relate specifically to the runtime.

The Ministry of Health rejected this claim, stating that this was not an unusual pollution and that residents were not required to be evacuated. Minister of the Environment, Ze'ev Elkin, has made statements about a possible "irresponsible" evacuation, but stressed that the ministry will prevent the government from taking action if an unusual air pollution does occur.

Now, the court has responded to the request of the local councils adjacent to Asda - Megiddo, Zichron Yaacov, Jisr a-Zarqa, Pardes Hanna Karkur and Emek Hefer - to issue a provisional order against the continuation of the execution. Noble claims that the daily cost of delaying the project is NIS 5 million. As mentioned, the gas from the whale is supposed to be exported to Egypt and a significant delay in the flow could also create a diplomatic crisis. In his decision, the judge criticized the Whale Partnership and the Ministry of the Environment because their response to the petition was "general, partial and unspecified." The hearing on the petition will resume on Sunday.

The Whale Partnership said: "The Whale Partnership has received the Honorable Court's decision and is studying it with intent and ready to discharge the gas from their Whale as soon as possible."