Last update - 00:00 14/08/2007
Ramat Hovav plant shuts down production facility in wake of chemical explosion
By Mijal Grinberg, Yuval Azoulay and Zafir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondents
The Makhteshim Agan chemical plant in the Ramat Hovav industrial zone shut down its facility for the production of organophophorus compounds on Tuesday, in the wake of Monday's chemical explosion at the plant that lightly injured nine people.
Makhteshim CEO David Nir announced Tuesday that the plant had shut down production lines until an inquiry can determine the cause of the explosion, following a recommendation by the Environmental Protection Ministry that it do so.
Organic phosphates are used among other things to produce pesticides, and have an effect similar to nerve gas. In the wake of Monday's explosion, organic phosphates were detected some one and a half kilometers east of the factory. Exposure to the substance can cause headaches, nausea and vomiting, and in high doses can even cause death.
Also Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces established a special committee to examine the implications of the explosion for the army's plans a huge training complex in the area.
IDF sources stressed that the planned site for the complex is located roughly 13 kilometers from Ramat Hovav.
Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra said Tuesday that the air quality at the site is better than in Be'er Sheva, adding that he sees no reason to change the government's decision regarding the location of the training complex.
Ezra, Nir, and the ministry's deputy director-general, Yossi Inbar, on Tuesday afternoon presented the interim findings of the inquiry into the explosion.
As of yet, however, the inquiry has been unable to determine the source of the explosion, and it is still unknown whether the failure was chemical or mechanical, a result of human error, sabotage, or something else.
The ministry and the Ramat Hovav Local Council will present more detailed findings within two weeks. At the same time, Makhteshim is conducting its own internal inquiry into the matter.
In response to a question posed by Haaretz, Ezra said he sees no reason for the inquiries to be conducted by an external body, saying the ministry and the local council are sufficiently objective.
Ezra added that Bedouin who live near Ramat Hovav are in danger of health effects, but said they were refusing offers to be evacuated to a safer area. The minister stressed that he has already approached the Abu Basma Council and requested that the residents be evacuated.