The huge torch in the place was lit for controlled release of gases • Ministry of the Environment: "The torch will gradually weaken in the coming hours" • Outraged residents: "deal in Corona and forget about the pollution"

• Burning torch in Haifa refineries // Photo: Ministry of Environmental Protection

Large fire forces are operating at this time (Thursday) in a gathering area at the entrance to refineries, due to a burning torch visible from a distance. Following the startling spectacle, many civilian cries were heard. Apparently, this is a gas emission from the ethylene facility.

Residents of Kibbutz Kfar Maccabi in the Zebulun Valley, located 20 kilometers east of Haifa, reported a very high flame intensity, which illuminated the entire area.

According to the refineries: "As a result of a failure in the ethylene facility, during which the turbine's work and compressor were stopped, there is an awful torch operation expected to take several hours. The gas surplus was safely diverted to the torch."

Haifa Mayor, Dr. Einat Kalish Rotem, responded to the incident, saying: "This is not an image from an apocalyptic movie. This is the reality we live in - the residents of Haifa Bay. The Haifa Municipality is currently conducting four legal proceedings against ORL and its companies, which I will report to in the upcoming City Council . In recent weeks, I have received some angry calls from government officials, claiming my attitude is too harsh. no he's not. I haven't started to be tough yet. Zero tolerance. Zero tolerance has already run out of patience. "

The burning torch

Dr. Revital Goldsmith, Haifa Environmental Research Center: "Currently in the Bay of Haifa again a huge torch that illuminates the sky and indicates another malfunction in the petrochemical plant. Unsurprisingly, the union site is not accessible at this time monitoring torches flows and does not know what degree of inflow and malfunction."

Goldsmith adds: "The plurality of faults in ORL just proves that it is necessary to advance the Gulf Innovation Plan to recover Haifa Bay and to keep the polluting and dangerous plant out of residential neighborhoods. Everyone deals with the Corona and forgets that from air pollution, over 2000 people die every year in Israel and that is only from particles. "

A green trend states: "A second time this week there is a malfunction in the ORL ethylene facility, once a compressor malfunction and this time a compressor malfunction again. Haifa residents again go to bed with great concern. The torch is a safety device for burning excess, but in the case of a huge torch - not all hazardous materials are effectively burned. We require the Ministry of the Environment to close the facility and not allow damage to air quality and the safety of the metropolitan residents. "

The Ministry of the Environment said: "Following a malfunction that occurred in the ORL group as a publisher, gas was directed to Torch, which is designed to handle such events. The Ministry of the Environment, headed by Haifa District Manager Shlomo Katz, is on site and is conducting tests. Deployed in the Gulf of Haifa, also near the ORL compound, measures the concentrations of pollutants in the air in real time, and up to this time no deviation from the standards has been measured. The real-time monitoring station data can be viewed in the Air Environment application of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. "

The HNO office added: "According to reports from a factory in the United States, these are ethylene gas burns in the torch. In the next few hours, the torch flame will still be seen across the bay, and the flow of gases will gradually decrease. Remember that burning the torch is the effective means of reducing Air pollution in the event of a malfunction. The firm is examining the data in depth and the plant's compliance with the emission permit, and will update as necessary. "