Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., June 27, 2008 Sivan 24, 5768 | | Israel Time: 01:35 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Planned electric station near TA park sparks spat By Yigal Hai The Israel Electric Corporation's plan to build a switching station in northern Tel Aviv near Hayarkon Park is sparking strong opposition from environmental groups. The station would be fed by a 400-kilowatt high-tension line. According to the environmentalists, the line will cause electromagnetic radiation in a residential area and be an eyesore in the area of the park and Yarkon River. Advertisement The switching station would regulate the flow of electricity and convey it at a lower intensity to residential areas. The plan calls for building the station at an existing IEC transformer site in the Kiryat Atidim industrial zone in the Ramat Hahayal neighborhood, around 150 meters from the river. One of the walls surrounding the site abuts the hiking and bike paths in Hayarkon Park East, which were opened around a month ago. The plan seeks to provide Tel Aviv with a strong electricity system of 400 kilowatts from the Petah Tikva station. This would improve the supply and quality of electricity to the metropolitan area and replace a weaker 161-kilowatt line. Around two months ago, the Interior Ministry's National Planning and Construction Council approved the IEC's request to extend until June the deadline for submitting an environmental impact survey for the plan. The survey has yet to be submitted. Environmental organizations and municipality officials, who plan to develop a park near the Yarkon River, suspect that laying a 400-kilowatt line will make it harder to extend the developed areas of Hayarkon Park all the way to the river's source near Rosh Ha'ayin. In addition, despite the new plan, the two 161-kilowatt lines that today run near the river between Petah Tikva and Tel Aviv will not be dismantled. The director of the Tel Aviv branch of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), Anat Barkai-Nevo, said the existing Yarkon switching station is already an environmental blight for residents of the area and park visitors. "Expanding the station and increasing the electricity supply flowing through will lead to considerably more health risks," she said. "Adding a 400-kilowatt line in the vicinity of Hayarkon Park, which is the green space for the central region, will significantly detract from the pleasure of using the park and its facilities, and from the beauty of the park." The 400-kilowatt lines are around 60 meters high, and the poles along them will be 10 to 15 meters high. In an area of around 70 meters from them, there is a ban on remaining for more than 24 hours. In the guidelines for the environmental survey, the supervisor of surveys at the Environmental Protection Ministry, Shahar Solar, asked that the survey address the effect on the electricity network if the project is not implemented. He also asked "to present the intensity of the electromagnetic fields expected around the edges of the switching station and in the vicinity of the lines," and to indicate what the significance would be for residents living in the area and for visitors to the park. The Interior Ministry said: "After receiving the Ministry of Environmental Protection's opinion of the survey, the National Council will determine the area of the site, discuss the plan, and if it is deemed appropriate, will forward it for comments to the district committees and for public comments." The Tel Aviv municipality spokesman said the municipality is not opposed to the new switching station, planned for a complex that for years has been designated for electricity facilities. According to him, the municipality asked the IEC to address several issues, including the impact of the station on the planned neighborhood of Neve Sharett East, and on existing and planned public institutions in the area. "It was found that the switching station's location is the lesser of the evils due to the fact that high-tension lines that run through Hayarkon Park will be removed," he added. The IEC said in response: "The construction of the Yarkon switching station is part of the company's ongoing operations to supply electricity to its customers. The Electric Corporation will continue to fulfill its responsibilities within the framework of the planning committees' decisions, and the project will meet the anticipated stringent requirements of the planning committees, for the benefit of all its customers." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Kosher Idol A new Haredi reality show called 'The Upcoming Voice' makes 'American Idol' kosher. Chief Rabbi's savior New look at Nazi-era papers names mysterious rescuer of future Chief Rabbi.

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