Last update - 00:00 06/12/2007
Defense Ministry: Negev base okayed without environment report
By Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondent
The Defense Ministry admitted Wednesday that the Committee for Security Facilities approved the construction of the military training base near Ramat Hovav despite the fact that it had not received the environmental impact report for the project.
The admission came Wednesday in the Be'er Sheva District Court, which was hearing an appeal by the Israel Union for Environmental Defense (IUED) against the Defense Ministry over the failure to use the accepted, transparent planning channels for the base.
The ministry argued that the IUED submitted its appeal only after work on the base had begun.
The appellant claimed that the committee approved the base without having received a risk analysis report, one of the state's conditions for the construction of the base. In addition, the IUED told the court, the committee approved the project without having received an environmental impact statement - one of the committee's own conditions for approval.
The ministry rejected the court's suggestion that IUED be permitted to voice its concerns about the base to the committee. The presiding judge announced that she would rule on the matter in early January.
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