Between Ruin and Restoration: An Environmental History of Israel

Chapter Eleven: Marine-Pollution Abatement on Israel’s Mediterr anean Coast: A Story of Policy Success

229 In 2009 Israeli Mediterranean beaches were closed for 109 days due to severe marine pollution (Zalul 2009). This would come as a harsh blow to the scores of israelis who love their beach. in such a small, crowded, cementbased country, the coast offers the ultimate escape from the hectic lives most israelis live. in any weather, rain or shine, on weekdays and even at night there are always people at the beach and in the water. This special affection for the coastal environment tends to make israelis unforgiving when it comes to polluting their primary and beloved natural resource, and makes it very popular to condemn the apparent failure of marine-pollution-abatement efforts. as a result, it is rare to describe the history of israel’s marine-pollution abatement as a success. yet, as this chapter shows, environmental quality along israel’s coastline has improved significantly, making this aspect of israel’s environmental history a success story. much of this success, and the fact that israel’s marine environment has become dramatically cleaner, is due to the (small but influential) government agency marine Pollution Prevention Department (later named the marine and Coastal environment Division [mCeD]) in israel’s ministry of environmental Protection. This chapter suggests that the historical background of the establishment of mCeD provides a compelling explanation to this success story. moreover, international forces influenced the high capacity of mCeD, manifested in its funding, organizational structure, motivation, and human CHAPTER ELEVEN MARINE-POLLUTION ABATEMENT ON ISRAEL’S MEDITERRANEAN COAST A Story of Policy Success Dorit kerret 230 DORIT KERRET capital—factors that enabled the utilization of advanced policy tools that resulted in improved environmental outcomes. in the absence of a formal marine-pollution regulatory strategy, the mCeD came up with innovative and creative solutions for addressing the sundry aspects of marine pollution. The most significant “boost” for combating marine pollution came in the form of hierarchical regulation providing the mCeD with a variety of tools and authorities. Within the command-and-control regulation that mCeD had at its disposal, it implemented advanced policy tools to improve environmental results. This chapter provides a snapshot of the improvements in the state of the marine environment. subsequently the historical background for the establishment of mCeD is described while highlighting the components of the mCeD’s high capacity. The utilization of advanced policy tools is then presented. The chapter concludes by drawing policy lessons from this story of success for other israeli environmental problems. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STATE OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT The 2006 war with Lebanon, when oil depots off the Lebanese coast were destroyed , leaking oil onto the beirut beaches, provided israelis with a brief reminder of the black sand we used to have. as tal describes in his book on israeli environmental history: “During the 1960s and 1970s the stains on israeli beaches from the tarry petroleum residues reached disgusting levels. after swimming, bathers had to scour the soles of their feet in kerosene to remove the gooey black gobs of petroleum wastes” (tal 2006). today, generally speaking , israeli beaches are white and clean. monitoring data support this visual observation: between 1975 and 1987 tar levels dropped from 3.6 kilograms per front meter to 20 grams, according to the oceanographic and Limnological research institute (ioLr) (tal 2006). annual reports of the ministry of environmental Protection (meP) state that beaches have been tar-free since 1985 (ministry of interior 1988). Data provided by the meP and the ioLr point to significant improvements of marine environmental quality, reflected in other environmental indicators as well (malister and mark 2006; Herut et al. 2008). for instance, during the previous decade, heavy-metal concentrations decreased significantly in sediments, benthic organisms, and dust (Herut et al. 2008). biological oxygen demand (boD), as well as nutrient concentrations, decreased dramatically also (malister and mark 2006). nonetheless, there continues to be much room for improvement in the quality of the mediterranean marine environment in israel. Particular recommendations for action are provided by the ioLr and stated in the work pro- MARINE-POLLUTION AbATEMENT 231 gram of the mCeD of the meP. in particular, the sludge of the Dan region Wastewater treatment Plant (shafdan) is highlighted as the major source of pollution to the mediterranean sea, significantly larger than all other sources combined (meP 2006a). Currently the shafdan gradually reduces its discharges and according to the current plan, the discharge from the shafdan to the...