The Mayor of Ashdod, Dr. Yehiel Lesri, last Sunday addressed an urgent letter to the Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, demanding his intervention to close polluting units at the Eshkol power plant at the end of 2023. Israel requires change.
This trend and this policy are contrary to any standard of justice in the distribution of the burden of pollution resulting from electricity production," he wrote.
At the beginning of his letter, Lesri expressed great concern about the existing situation and especially about the dangerous ambiguity regarding the continued activity of the polluting units after the sale of the power plant to a private entrepreneur, which could cause health damage to the city's residents.
The power plant in Ashdod, photo: Moshe Shay
"The municipality of Ashdod and myself," he wrote, are very concerned about the increase in the level of pollution, that is why we have established a fight team, and we are doing and will do everything necessary to ensure that the environmental problems that have characterized the Haifa Bay for years will not develop or be restored in the Ashdod metropolis... the polluting units are outdated, are not meet the standard..., and in fact there is no dispute regarding the environmental health hazards posed by their operation, especially since it is known that among the emission products from those units there are known and suspected carcinogenic substances."
Yair Lapid.
Intervene?, Photo: Dodi Vaaknin
We are preparing to grant a license to operate the polluting units for up to six years
In the letter, the mayor emphasizes that while the Ministry of Environmental Protection is considering refusing the request for an emission permit for the polluting units, and will insist on their closure at the end of 2023, the Ministry of Energy and the Electricity Authority are preparing to sell the Eshkol power plant, as part of the tender, with the polluting units as active units, and to grant the purchaser of the plant a license to operate The polluting units for a period of 3-6 years.
"The said intention is outrageous. First and foremost, due to the continued exposure of the public to the damages of the polluting units. Second, as far as we know, at the end of the previous decade a decision was made according to which the polluting units will be shut down at the end of 2023," noted Dr. Lesri and demanded that Lapid adopt the position of the Ministry of Environmental Protection "Which is the proper, the right, and the requested.
These things are mostly true when the Ministry of Environmental Protection is the governmental entity with the most knowledge for the purpose of assessing the harm and damages that may be caused to the public and the environment as a result of the continued operation of the polluting units."
In the continuation of his letter, Dr. Lesri stated that the order of things in the tender today is contrary to logic and common sense, since only after the winner is determined will the fate of the polluting units be determined. In any case, and since public health is at the center of the fight being waged by the municipality, Dr. Lesri asked the Prime Minister to intervene in the dispute between government ministries, and to bring about a decision "that will protect the public and prevent it from exposure to serious air hazards, including exposure to carcinogens or suspected carcinogens".
The Prime Minister's Office's response will be published when received.
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