Tel Aviv — Israel’s Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal from the country’s environmental lobbies against a government decision on royalty payments by Israel Chemicals Ltd.’s (ICL) Dead Sea Works subsidiary. Under the terms of the agreement reached in January, ICL is to cover 80 percent of the cost of removing salt from the Dead Sea’s pool number 5, where water levels have been rising and threatening to flood nearby hotels. The total cost of the project is put at $1 billion. The government would cover the remaining 20 percent of the cost, though this would be partially offset by an increase in royalty payments on potash production from 5 to 10 percent. The Israel Union for Environmental Defense and the Movement for Quality Government appealed the agreement, arguing that the decision runs counter to public interest and allows the company to continue to exploit the natural resources of the Dead Sea without sufficient environmental protection. The groups also argued that the royalty rate had been set far too low. In response to the court decision, the Israel Union for Environmental Defense said the court did not understand the grave implications the agreement has on the public and on state finances. The organization said in its statement that "by agreeing to this deal, the government will be losing hundreds of millions of dollars that belong to the Israeli public." The statement added that the decision will allow the company to continue its policy of polluting the environment. Meanwhile, Dead Sea Works is moving ahead with the preliminary planning of the conveyor belt and dredging project. Due to the complexity of the project and the lack of local expertise, most of the detailed planning, construction, and equipment will be supplied by foreign companies. The conveyor belt will handle 20 million tons of salt annually at a rate of 4000 tons per hour. Two options – the use of barges or slurry – are currently being considered for dumping the huge quantities of salt back into the northern basin of the Dead Sea, where it will sink to the bottom and does not present a risk. The timetable calls for preliminary planning to be completed by the end of 2013, and actual construction by 2016. It is expected to take two years from the time the process of salt dredging begins until the water level will reach a steady state and cease to threaten the hotels in the region.
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