Over the past few years, the Environmental Services Company, which operates the site, stopped accepting wastes for which feasible treatment technologies did not exist, developed new treatment solutions for some of the wastes and improved storage conditions and handling procedures, while the Ministry of the Environment issued new environmental conditions to the business license of the hazardous waste treatment plant. These business licensing conditions, which relate to the entire gamut of activities at Ramat Hovav, from initial laboratory analysis of all incoming waste to prohibitions on the discharge of all wastes to evaporation ponds and stabilization of the hazardous waste destined for landfilling, are now being planned or actually implemented. And perhaps most importantly, plans for the remediation of the hazardous waste site are now being advanced. Remediation of the oldest acidic tar ponds at the site, with funding from the Ministry of the Environment, has already begun. Hopefully it will extend to the entire site in the coming years.

Preparing for Remediation

In 1999, the Ministry of the Environment issued an international tender for the “preparation of a historical survey, field survey and masterplan for the remediation of the hazardous waste treatment site at Ramat Hovav” which could be extended for the design and close supervision of the remediation.

The results of the surveys left no doubt that contamination poses serious risks to public health, the environment and groundwater and that remediation was imperative. It was left for the masterplan, published in 2003, to point the way.

Remediation targets are based on:

• Removal, treatment and safe re-deposition of the old waste.
• Excavation, treatment and safe deposition of contaminated soil under and around these deposition areas.
• Securing of areas by capping.
• Extraction and treatment of contaminated groundwater and soil gas until reaching the recommended Rehabilitation Threshold Levels (RTL).
• Upgrading of existing waste treatment technologies and implementation of new technologies.

Priorities for Action

The proposed remediation sequence is based on the principle that the most hazardous areas will be treated first and that emissions to groundwater and air will be stopped within a short period of time. Since the most contaminated areas were found to be two acidic tar ponds, the remediation sequence calls for the stabilization of the waste and contaminated subsoil in the area of these acidic ponds as a first step.

While the estimated price tag of implementing the entire program outlined in the masterplan is some $87 million, plans are currently being advanced to implement the first step of the masterplan. In fact, technical specifications have already been prepared for the design and remediation of the two acidic tar ponds and the initial funds for their remediation have been recruited. Hopefully, when discussions on the technical aspects of publishing the tender are completed in the near future, it would be possible to mark a major milestone - the first phase of the Ramat Hovav Hazardous Waste Treatment Site Remediation Project.

However, the Ministry of the Environment is intent on advancing more than the first phase of the program. It is therefore working with the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister’s Office to ensure that the necessary funds are allocated for rehabilitation of the entire site. This will allow for the implementation of the entire masterplan within a 5-7 year period, following which the area will finally be rid of the nuisances that have for so long threatened public health and polluted air, soil and groundwater. Implementation of the masterplan, coupled with the improvements that are currently taking place at the site, will finally transform Ramat Hovav into one of the most advanced hazardous waste treatment plants worldwide.
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