As sea lovers, you probably already got used to seeing warnings from the Health Ministry such as “the sea is closed due to pollution”.  These warnings have become part of our day-to-day life.

The Shafdan (The Dan Region Union for Sewage and the Environment), which is supposed to treat the sewage that’s created by the Dan region, spills into the sea each year approximately 5 million squared meters of sludge and has been doing so for over 10 years.  The sludge that flows into the sea also contains mercury, chrome, nickel, cadmium, lead and silver.

This does not prevent the Shafdan from charging the public a sum total of 100 million NIS a year for treatment of the sewage and sludge.

The pollution of the sludge poses a real threat to the health of the citizens and is an environmental hazard to the ecosystem.

After years that Zalul campaigned to stop the sludge from spilling into the sea, the Shafdan is now trying to make the sludge “disappear” by pushing forth the construction of an incinerator that will be built near the western neighborhoods of Rishon Letzion and will burn all the sewage produced by the nearly 2 million people who live in the Dan Region. 

Constructing an incinerator in Rishon means that instead of swimming in pollution we will now be breathing it!

Constructing an incinerator goes against any environmental, economical or health minded logic and directly harms the public!

Constructing an incinerator that will burn the sludge is dangerous and unrealistic, for the following reasons, among others:

• The cost of the project is estimated at 170 million Euro;
• Many object to this project including scientists, environmental organizations and local residents;
• These objections as well as other difficulties which will surely arise, will delay the completion of the project by several years;
• Air pollution in central Israel already exceeds the standard;
• All the pollutants that will be release from the incinerator have not been presented or clarified and the effect of these pollutants over time on the nearby population has not been explained;
• “Standards” of the pollution released from the incinerator are based on economical pressures and not on the protection of the citizen’s health;
• The residents will be forced to finance this unnecessary project;
• Entrusting a national project in the hands of a private company will lead to its operation being based on principals of loss and gain – and this can be at the cost of the public’s safety and health.
• The supervision and enforcement of the incinerator will be very complex, and even in cases where the pollution will exceed the standard, it will not be possible to stop the incinerator.

We demand a clean sea and clean air – today.

On the other hand, it is possible to save the sea and air starting now:

• It is possible and feasible to construct a plant that will convert the sludge into fertilizer within a year;
• There are alternatives that are based on conversion of sludge to fertilizer that are significantly less expensive than constructing an incinerator;
• Environmentally friendly technologies that convert sludge to fertilizer have already been applied worldwide and are accepted by scientists, environmental organizations and residents;
• These alternatives will be much more easy to supervise over and it will be possible to select from a variety of solutions instead of relying on one.

The Shafdan is not interested in protecting your health!

The Shfdan is interested in resolving its problem with maximum cost and minimum responsibility!

If it is important for you to breath clean air and to swim in a clean sea, join the thousands of citizens they are calling:

A pipeline in the sea or a chimney in the air is the same poison!