Tel Aviv — Israel’s Supreme Court has taken up an appeal by Haifa Chemicals against the Haifa Municipality for refusing to grant a license for its ammonia storage facility. The Court granted Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry 45 days to respond to how it planned to implement a government decision on closing down the facility and replacing it with a production plant in Mishor Rotem in southern Israel. The Court also ordered the ministry to respond to whether there was a plan for reducing the amount of ammonia stored in the facility, as the amount needed by Israel at any given time is 2,500 mt, while the storage facility currently holds 12,000 mt. The city’s position is that the facility is too dangerous to have near a populated area. In the meantime, eight groups have pre-qualified in a tender issued by Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry and the Israel Lands Authority for building an ammonia plant for the production of 150,000 mt/y (GM Dec. 1, 2014).
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