Haifa Chemicals convicted of marine pollution

The heaviest fine ever to be imposed in Israel, NIS 584,000, (USD 129,000) for marine pollution was given last week by Judge Mordechai Argaman of the Krayot Magistrates Court.
 
The judge convicted Haifa Chemicals fertilizer company, a leading Israeli chemicals producer, for pouring excessive amounts of polluting materials, a number of times in 2001 and 2002, into the Kishon River, and from there into the sea.
 
In his verdict Judge Argaman noted that "the accused is an economic body, and making a profit is its reason to exist. The problem is that it increased its profits by damaging the marine environment, violating all the permits it had received".
 
The latest fine is the second Haifa Chemicals fertilizer company had paid. The company's last fine amounted to NIS 166,000 for dropping sludge into the sea from its Haifa factory in 1988.