The EAPC pipeline crosses the Negev from Eilat to Ashkelon. The company’s pipeline and terminals along the shores of Eilat and Ashkelon are outdated and fragile infrastructure that pose a threat to sensitive open spaces, nature reserves, the marine environment, and critical infrastructure facilities.
EAPC, a commercially driven company, has a long history of malfunctions and oil spills that have contaminated soil and damaged habitats in open areas. Well-known examples include the spill in the Evrona Nature Reserve and the spills in Zin Valley.
For all these reasons, we define the oil pipeline as a “ticking time bomb” — a threat to public health, the livelihoods of Eilat and Negev residents, and, no less importantly, an immediate and serious danger to our shared natural treasures.
Keshet NGO is part of an environmental organizations coalition that has mobilized to protect the natural resources endangered by EAPC. The coalition aims to prevent the government from increasing oil transport volumes, halt the repeal of the “zero additional risk to the Gulf of Eilat” policy, and raise awareness among both the government and the public about the deteriorating state of the pipeline. Keshet, in particular, has taken on the mission of broadening awareness about the risks posed by EAPC’s activities across the Israeli desert, emphasizing that the danger is not limited to the endpoints in Eilat and Ashkelon, but threatens the entire Negev — especially its sensitive areas and desert nature reserves.
?Who is EAPC (Katz’a’a)
The Europe Asia Pipeline Company (EAPC) was established in 1968 as the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company, with the purpose of serving as a land bridge for transporting crude oil from production sources in the Arabian Gulf to customers in Europe. EAPC’s crude oil pipeline system includes three lines. The largest of them is the “42” pipeline, which is 254 kilometers (about 158 miles) long and connects the oil terminal on the Red Sea coast in Eilat with the oil terminal in Ashkelon on the Mediterranean coast. The two additional pipelines supply crude oil to the refineries in Haifa and Ashdod. The company operates two oil ports and two tank farms with a total storage capacity of approximately 950 million gallons of crude oil and fuel products.
EAPC’s aging and deteriorating pipeline infrastructure was laid down around the time of the company’s founding, over fifty years ago. According to inspection results conducted by the company in 2019 and 2024, about 160,000 defects and anomalies were discovered in the 42″ pipeline running from Eilat to Ashkelon. These defects, caused by corrosion and wear, affected between 10% and 80% of the pipe wall thickness.
Oil spill incidents – severe ecological disasters
Over the years, the company has had a grim and troubling history of oil and petroleum distillate spill incidents, in which unimaginable quantities of crude oil or distillates have leaked. These publicly known cases have caused severe contamination of nature reserves and ecologically sensitive areas on an alarming scale.
Each pollution incident and the subsequent restoration efforts cause irreversible damage to the affected area. In the Evrona Nature Reserve disaster of December 2014, the company’s oil pipeline burst, spilling five million liters (about 1.3 million gallons) of oil. The spill flooded the road to Eilat, covered the Evrona Nature Reserve, and reached as far as the Kingdom of Jordan. The spilled crude oil severely damaged the reserve, causing massive harm to the rare acacia and palm trees in the area, as well as to the local wildlife and vegetation. Some local residents, including people from Jordan, were hospitalized after feeling unwell. As part of the restoration efforts, approximately 55,000 tons of soil were removed from the nature reserve.
According to estimates, it will take decades to repair the damage. The Ministry of Environmental Protection defined the event in Be’er Ora as one of the most severe natural disasters to have occurred in Israel. As a result of the incident, class action lawsuits were filed against EAPC, which ended in a settlement agreement under which the company would pay 100 million shekels (approximately 27 million USD) for damage restoration and public compensation.
In 2012, EAPC hired the services of the company “Marina South Divers” to remove hazards at oil tanker mooring points. The work was carried out without the approval of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. During the operation, five piles were cut and fell into the water, damaging more than 2,000 corals whose restoration will take many years. An economic study conducted by DHV-Med in 2024 found that the hazardous plan to expand oil transportation in the Gulf of Eilat and the Mediterranean Sea could result in damages estimated at approximately 11 billion ILS (around 3 billion USD) and cause severe harm to the economy of Eilat and its coral reef.
Sweeping Secrecy in the Name of National Security
The oil company EAPC, which is effectively owned by both the Israeli government and private entities, has operated under secrecy for reasons of national security since the 1950s, when it was established as a joint venture between Iran and Israel. Under the cover of this secrecy, most of the information available to the public about its operations is restricted. This includes the quantities and types of hazardous materials stored near Eilat and Ashkelon, the company’s business activities, and its preparedness for handling emergencies and environmental disasters. To this day, EAPC has used this secrecy to operate without transparency, even in areas that have no connection to national security.
In April 2024, the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee held a discussion on extending the secrecy imposed on EAPC. The company and the Ministry of Finance requested a five-year extension of the complete secrecy surrounding the company’s operations! Thanks to the efforts of the Environmental Organizations Headquarters, approximately 400 public comments were submitted to the government by environmental activists, organizations, local residents, and citizens.
As a result, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee narrowed the confidentiality order regarding EAPC, allowing vital information about the company and its operations to become accessible to the public. In addition, the committee members decided to extend the validity of the order only until June 2025—just one year, rather than the five years requested by the Ministry of Finance. As part of narrowing the secrecy order on the oil company, it was decided that the information allowed for publication will include, among other things: confirmation of periodic equipment inspections, a training log regarding toxic substance permit conditions, and a record of environmental incidents; approvals related to hazardous waste, emergency preparedness documents, immediate response plans for hazardous material events, a drill documentation log, and post-drill investigation reports.
Additional information, now approved for publication unlike in the past, includes investigations of hazardous materials incidents; seismic and geological surveys indicating the resilience of the tank farms, pipelines, and the marine terminal to earthquakes; as well as safety procedures and protocols for preventing accidents and leaks at the marine terminals and tank farms.
Freedom of Information Request to Disclose the Locations of Pipeline Defects
Following the narrowing of EAPC’s confidentiality provisions, the Keshet NGO submitted a Freedom of Information request in February 2024 through attorney Haya Erez. The request included a demand to receive data regarding the results of inspections aimed at detecting defects in the EAPC infrastructure. These inspections are conducted every five years, with the most recent one taking place in 2019. In that inspection, 160,000 defects were found in the wall thickness of the 42-inch pipeline that transports crude oil.
The request sought to obtain data on the exact locations of all the defects along the pipeline, with the goal of analyzing the concentration and severity of the defects—especially in ecologically sensitive open areas and nature reserves that the pipeline crosses. Such mapping could indicate potential failure points that pose a risk of oil leakage in these areas and help prevent future disasters like the one in Ein Avrona. It would also include a preliminary demand for EAPC to present a work plan for minimizing leak risks, based on the severity and concentration of defects, with prioritization according to the sensitivity level of the threatened areas.
Freedom of Information Request (Hebrew Document)
Unfortunately, in its response to the Freedom of Information request (after four months!), EAPC chose to redact the locations of the defects, claiming that the data would reveal the pipeline’s route, thus breaching classified information and harming national security. However, it seems EAPC forgot that the pipeline’s route is publicly available under Amendment No. 114 to the Planning and Building Law and is published as part of the EAPC 1000 Plan documents on the Planning Administration’s website.
Despite the redactions, the data we received will still allow us to identify and highlight risk points of defects along the EAPC pipeline. We will publish this information once we finish processing the data.
The Campaign Against Increasing Oil Transportation
Following the Abraham Accords, EAPC is seeking to dramatically increase the volumes of crude oil and petroleum products transported through its pipeline and storage infrastructure. In an agreement with MedRedLB, EAPC committed to transporting up to 20 million tons of crude oil and an additional 2 million tons of refined products (fuels). The expansion of oil transportation is not intended to serve Israel’s energy sector or enhance the country’s energy security. Rather, it is primarily aimed at export and increasing the company’s profits, while completely disregarding the risks this poses to open landscapes, nature reserves, the marine environment, critical infrastructure along the shores of Eilat and Ashkelon, the residents of these cities, and their local economies.
In November 2020, the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a comprehensive report (Hebrew) on the risks inherent in expanding oil transportation. As a result, the ministry established a policy of “zero additional risk” for the Gulf of Eilat.
Despite this policy, EAPC has been working—primarily through various government offices, including the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Finance—to approve and implement the expansion of oil transportation. Yossi Shelley, Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office, demanded that the Minister of Environmental Protection, Idit Silman, revoke the “zero additional risk” policy that limits the amount of oil EAPC is allowed to transport through the Gulf of Eilat—thereby increasing the risk to the city’s coastline and marine ecosystem.
In July 2024, it became clear that the Prime Minister’s Office was initiating a government resolution aimed at overturning the Environmental Protection Ministry’s policy, in order to allow EAPC to transport unlimited quantities of crude oil and oil products without any restrictions or consideration of the potential risks. As a result, the campaign headquarters against the increase in transportation volumes—including the Keshet NGO—mobilized to prevent the discussion of the proposed resolution and to derail it.
The campaign headquarters initiated an emergency meeting of the Environmental Lobby in the Knesset. The conference took place on July 10, 2024, with the participation of Efrat Kedem-Silbert, Head of Planning and Environment at the Keshet NGO, where participants demanded the government immediately cancel the discussion on the resolution proposal.
Video: The Knesset Channel.
Collaboration with the Ministry of Environmental Protection
Subsequently, a meeting was scheduled between the leaders of the Environmental Organizations Coalition and the Minister of Environmental Protection, Idit Silman. In the meeting, the need was raised for the ministry to take a firm stand—together with the organizations—against the plan to increase oil transportation, which blatantly ignores the significant risks involved. Following the meeting, the ministry issued the following statement:
The Ministry of Environmental Protection has decided to implement the “zero additional risk” policy in a balanced manner. For example, with the outbreak of the “Operation Iron Swords” war, the ministry granted a specific permit to increase the quantities of crude oil beyond the amount allowed by the regular permit and to temporarily offload tankers carrying refined fuels, for the needs of the Israeli economy during the emergency. In practice, since November 2023, no crude oil or fuel tankers have entered the Gulf of Eilat. The minister clarified that the state of emergency should not be exploited to pass a decision that pertains to routine operations, emphasizing that there is no urgency, as in reality, no oil tankers are currently entering the Gulf of Eilat.
Minister of Environmental Protection:
“Although the ministry requested that the inter-ministerial team refrain from using EAPC’s risk survey — a survey the ministry has professionally rejected twice and never approved — they included EAPC’s data as if it were fact. The team heard everyone, yet failed to incorporate environmental considerations. This increase in oil transport is purely commercial. We have not received any position that convincingly shows it serves the needs of the economy, energy security, or the population of Israel. This agreement offers no benefit to the Israeli energy market, and no one has proven otherwise.
What are Israel’s actual energy needs? Is this harmful to public health? To foreign relations? We remain unconvinced of the necessity, and no official written position has been presented. What we do know for certain is that the environmental and public health impacts — especially to the marine environment — will be devastating. No potential benefit can outweigh the damage that will be caused to our natural resources and to the health of the people of Eilat and of Israel as a whole.”
Ultimately, for the time being, the discussion on the government resolution proposal was canceled. The campaign headquarters is closely monitoring developments and continues to prepare for preventing the expansion of oil transport.
July 2024 – Fuel Leak Near Ramon Crater
On July 10, 2024, a leak of petroleum distillates occurred from EAPC infrastructure near Ramon Crater.
To the best of our knowledge, the pipeline at this point was exposed for maintenance work and remained uncovered. We were also informed that EAPC had conducted work at the site two days earlier. At the leak site, we found the pipeline covered with loose soil and large boulders that blocked access to it. On the surface, the soil appeared dry but loose, and tractor tracks were clearly visible. Near the pile of boulders, there was a strong smell of oil/fuel in the air. We dug about 2 inches into the ground, approximately 65 feet from the pipeline, and discovered moist soil soaked with fuel (most likely jet fuel, JP-8).
The contaminated channel leads directly to Parsat Nekarot (Nekarot horseshoe Canyon) , one of the most stunning natural and tourist sites in the Ramon Crater Nature Reserve. This means that during the first flash flood of the coming winter, Parsat Nekarot—the most popular hiking trail in the Ramon Crater—could become contaminated with fuel pollutants. Since Nahal Nekarot flows all the way to the Arava and the Dead Sea, the “Land of Genesis” trails in eastern Ramon may also be affected, and the potential area at risk of contamination throughout the Negev is enormous.
To the best of our knowledge, professionals from both the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority collected soil samples from the area for testing only after EAPC had carried out earthworks at the leak site. During a meeting of the Environmental Organizations Coalition at the Ministry of Environmental Protection, we placed a fuel-soaked soil sample—reeking of fuel—on Minister Silman’s desk, calling for an investigation and clarification of this troubling incident with EAPC.
Photo: Ezry Keydar.
As of July 2024, the Keshet NGO is considering legal action against EAPC due to the oil leak south of the Ramon Crater.
