Tel Aviv — Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry has granted Haifa Chemicals a one-year permit for poisonous substances at its ammonia plant in Haifa. The permit stipulates that the facility must stop operations within five years. This is the first time the ministry has set a deadline for transfer of the plant. Its location in the Haifa area has led to strong opposition by the Haifa municipality and environmental groups that have been lobbying to get the facility moved as quickly as possible. The ministry explained that the ammonia storage facility will have to shut down by the beginning of 2017. In March, the ministry, in cooperation with the Industry and Trade Ministry, decided to order the transfer of the ammonia plant to southern Israel. The decision set 2015 as the target date for removal of the ammonia plant from Haifa. The environmental ministry said that the two ministries are determined that the ammonia facility be transferred within five years or less.
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