Israel has decided to transfer garbagebeyond the Green Line and dump it in the West Bankforthe first time since 1967. The project was launched despiteinternationaltreaties prohibiting an occupying state from making use ofoccupied territoryunless it benefits the local population. In addition,pollution experts saysuch use of the Kedumim quarry – located in an oldPalestinian quarry betweenthe Kedumim settlement and Nablus- will jeopardize Palestinian water sources.
Thedump operators plan to deposit some 10,000 tons ofgarbage from the Danand Sharon regions every month in what was known as theAbu Shushaquarry, the largest in the West Bank.Inthe last few days trucks and bulldozers have been covering thequarry’sfloor with brown soil to turn it into a garbage dump. Hugesemi- trailer trucksare to bring the Sharon and Dan garbage, which willbe amassed at the Hadarimgarbage station near Tel Mond prison, to thequarry.
The construction is being carried out by Baron Industrial Park,acompany jointly owned by the councils of Kedumim and Karnei Shomron andtheShomron Regional Council. The Hadarim site is operated by D.S.H., aprivate,Netanya-based garbage disposal company owned by the Valensifamily.
Theinitiative started out as an idea to rehabilitate a15-dunam plot in thequarry by filling it with building waste, junk andshredded tires. Itevolved into a huge project spread over dozens of dunams forhouseholdgarbage, operated as a private business and expected to yield tensofmillions of shekels.
Transferring Israeli garbage to the West Bank will be muchcheaper for D.S.H. than taking it to a site in Israel. Local and regional councilspay NIS 90 to NIS105 for removing a ton of garbage to a transit station in Israel. Theypay the dump some NIS 40 per ton for depositingthe waste and the transporter gets another NIS 30 per ton.
The profit is NIS 20 to NIS 35 per ton. Butburying the garbage in the Kedumim dump, according to an internal Baron Parkdocument, will cost a mere NIS30 per ton, leaving a greater profit in the hands of the entrepreneurs andoperators.
Transferring the Israeli garbage to Samariawill bring the company a profit of NIS 6 perton, totaling some NIS60,000 a month.
Israel’sconstruction and operation of theKedumim dump appears to be inviolating the international law, as it involvestransferring garbage toterritory defined as occupied. Second, experts warnthat the dump wouldjeopardize the Mountain Aquifer, one of the largestfreshwater sourcesin Israeland Palestine.Thisis because the dump, which was originally used for “dry waste,”willreceive and absorb household garbage with organic substances.
Itis also unclear whether the procedures for constructing and operatingthedump on state land were carried out according to the law, or howbulldozers areworking at the site before a final construction permithas been issued.
Why has the civil administration failed to take measuresagainst Baron Industrial Parkfor allowing D.S.H. -six months ago – to dump hundreds of tons ofgarbage in the site in violationof the law and before the EnvironmentMinistry and Water Commission approvedit?
West Bank sourcessay the reason for the civil administration’s inaction isthat everyoneis afraid of Daniella Weiss, the council head of Kedumim, one oftheowners of Baron Park.
Thebiggest mystery is how D.S.H., of all companies, was allowed to buildandoperate a very profitable waste site on state land without anytender beingissued, as required by law.
The Kedumim dump will create an absurd situation. The West Bankis filled with illegal Palestinian garbage dumps, whichconstituteserious environmental hazards and jeopardize the groundwater,becausethe civil administration refuses to let Palestinians build modernwastedisposal sites. The most modern dump being built there – theKedumim dump – isintended only for garbage from Israel.
“We are dealing with a double crime,” says MKYossi Sarid, former environment minister. “On the one hand, Israel is preventing the Palestinians frommaking use of the quarry and its resources, and in exchange we are giving themthe Sharon’sgarbage. I believe this is a violation of international treaties.”
Iche Meir, the director of the union of Samaria local authorities for theenvironment, said the work had been done without the union’s approval and wasillegal.
The civil administration issued an order to stop the work onthe site and Baron Parkwas instructed tomove the garbage and start the insulation work on thequarry floor again, as acondition for the Environment Ministry’sapproval.
Haaretzhas learned that although the environment ministerhas not yet approvedthe work on the dump, and despite the civiladministration’s order tostop the construction, the bulldozers are stillworking on the site.
Acivil administration spokesman commented that he wasunable to providethe answers to the legal issues, due to lack of time. He saidtheKedumim council head gave D.S.H. a permit to operate a garbage dumpbeforethe plan was approved by the authorities and this is why theciviladministration ordered the work to stop.