Israel oil spill: Damage to nature reserve 'could take years' to fix

Millions of litres spilled into the Evrona reserve

Millions of litres of crude oil have oozed from a pipeline and flooded 200 acres of a desert nature reserve in southern Israel, causing one of the country’s worst environmental disasters, officials said on Thursday.

Three people were taken to hospital after inhaling oil fumes, police said, after maintenance workers accidentally broke a section of the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline near the Evrona reserve, some 18 km (12 miles) north of the Red Sea resort of Eilat.

The main road leading to Eilat from central Israel was closed intermittently, and the Environment Ministry advised the town to cancel a triathlon that was due to take athletes through the affected area.

The black slick had pooled into ravines, but did not seep onto the 4,250-acre (1,720-hectare) Evrona reserve's rare deer and douma palms. and stopped before crossing the Jordanian border.

Civil defence officials in Amman said several Jordanians had gone to hospital as a precaution after smelling the fumes, but had not required treatment.

Luckily, in the absence of rainfall endangered wildlife in the Red Sea is also likely to be safe.

But insects and other crawling animals are likely to have been harmed, said Doron Nissim of Israel's Nature and Parks Authority.

Suction equipment would likely be used to drain the pools of oil, and contaminated earth might also be removed, said Nissim.

Environment Ministry official Guy Samet estimated the spillage at millions of litres, telling Israel Radio: “Rehabilitation will take months, if not years.”

Additional reporting by Reuters