Israeli Ministry Orders Ammonia Tank Shutdown amid Nasrallah Threats

Israel's environment ministry announced Wednesday it will not renew the license of an ammonia container in the port city of Haifa as it poses a potentially deadly threat to residents.

The container, which holds 12,000 tons of the toxic, corrosive liquid, puts the public "at a risk we cannot accept," the ministry said in a statement.

From March 1 the facility will not be permitted to receive any new shipments of ammonia but it then has three months in which it can supply secondary users while they find alternative supplies. 

Located in the northern city's densely-populated bayside area, it serves as a storage tank for Haifa Chemicals, which uses the material as a component in the manufacture of fertilizers and industrial chemicals.

"There is no place in Haifa Bay for the tank, which endangers human life," deputy minister Yaron Mazuz, a Haifa native, said in the statement.

The long-festering issue made fresh headlines last year when Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the 31 year-old ammonia container would be like "a nuclear bomb" if hit by his group's missiles.

Nasrallah, whose rockets pounded the Haifa area in a 2006 war with Israel, echoed warnings from experts and activists cited in Israeli media that "tens of thousands of people" would be killed if the container was struck.

Nasrallah has repeated the warning twice since Thursday.

“In the face of Israel's threats to destroy Lebanon's infrastructure, we will not abide by red lines, especially regarding Haifa's ammonia and the nuclear reactor in Dimona. Hizbullah possesses the full courage for this,” said Nasrallah during an interview aired on Monday.

Senior environment ministry officials, however, said Wednesday that security threats were not part of their remit and their safety fears were based on environmental dangers alone, including possible consequences of an earthquake.

In addition to the tank itself, there were also environmental risks associated with the docking and unloading of the tankers which transport the ammonia to Haifa.

The ministry said Haifa Chemicals, an Israeli-based multinational, could continue to use the tank until March 1 but must not top it up.

In addition to its own needs, the company sells some of its ammonia stocks to other users such as chemical plants, defense manufacturers and cold stores, as well as for water and sewage treatment.

By June 1 they must find other sources of supply, such as direct imports from neighboring Jordan, senior officials said.

Wednesday's environment ministry announcement came in the wake of repeated court battles.

Responding to a petition by Haifa city council, a local court ruled on February 13 that the container must be emptied within 10 days. Haifa Chemicals appealed that decision and a new court hearing is set for Sunday. 

A spokesman for Haifa council told AFP it would demand that the container be drained without further delay.

The environment ministry's decision and court ruling come after a decades-long struggle of environmental groups opposed to the tank.