Oil Pollution on Israeli Coasts

Marine PoUutton Bulletin

Israel has long experienced the effects of oil discharged offshore into the Eastern Mediterranean. A 7-week survey discovered that the country now faces an additional inshore problem resulting from the changing regional pattern of oil transportation.

Oil polluting the Eastern Mediterranean and sub- sequently the shores of Israel, originates from illegal discharges of dirty ballast water from tankers, in areas where supervision and prosecution of offenders is im- practicable. In contrast the inshore problem originates from four sources; industrial waterways, general cargo ports, power stations and the oil ports.

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Fig. ! Israeli oil terminals and pipelines.

The only industrial waterway of Israel is the Kishon River, near Haifa, where frequent small spillages constitute a chronic oil pollution problem in the estuary of the river. The spillages originate from small leaks by off-based industries on the banks of the river. The general cargo ports of Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat are periodically polluted by varying amounts and sources of oil. Identification and monitoring of these discharges is difficult. Oil-fired power stations contribute least to the problem. These are supplied with oil from tankers anchored in adjacent waters by submarine pipelines and flexible hoses. Only isolated incidents occur from these sources, e.g., in September 1968 a flexible underwater hose close to a Tel Aviv power station ruptured polluting 8 km of shoreline with 500 tonnes of fuel oil.

The three main oil ports of Israel are Haifa, Ashkelon and Eilat. Oil transfer operations at Haifa are small, 2

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million tonnes of distillates and 7 million tonnes of" crude oil annually transferred between oil terminal and tanker by a multipoint mooring in the bay of Haifa. The largest spill occurred in the winter of 1949 when an underwater line ruptured and 500 tonnes of crude oil polluted the shoreline from Haifa to Acre During 35 years of operations the remaining spillages were considered 'limited' and not recorded.

In 1973 the oil port of Eilat transferred 25 million tonnes of crude oil from the Gulf of Aqaba (Northern Red Sea) to Ashkelon on the Mediterranean coast where the oil is back loaded for export to Europe. The oil terminal at Eilat was built in 1957 with a capacity of 6 million tonnes p.a. and connected with Haifa by a 41 cm pipeline. Until 1969 oil spiUages were not documented as they were small and confined to minor installational faults. In 1969 a 107 cm pipeline was constructed linking Eilat with Ashkelon. Oil capacity was stepped up to 25 million tonnes p.a. Since then oil transfer operations have been based on tankers moored at two jetties, each accommodating a single vessel of up to 400,000 tonnes DWT, with five loading arms serving as connections. From January 1969 to June 1973 92 oil spillages were recorded by the Department of Shipping and Ports totalling 238.48 tonnes.

The Ashkelon oil harbour is located at the terminus of the 107 cm pipeline. 3 km south of Ashkelon and close to the densely populated coastal towns such as Ashdod. Crude oil is transferred to tankers offshore at a rate of 25 million tonnes p.a. by single and multiple point moorings situated 1900 and 3500 m respectively from the beach. All were constructed in 1969 and connected to the shore installation by one 61 cm ballast water and two 81 cm crude oil pipelines. From January /969 to March 1973 28 oil spillages were recorded, the largest, 1600 tonnes in October 1972 caused by a faule m the tank farm

Po l lu t ion C o n t r o l M e t h o d s ('hronic oil pollution in the Kishon River estuary cannot

be effectively controlled or accurately monitored. Pollution control in the general cargo ports is expected to be more effective with recent increases of fines, detentions for repeated offences, and the availability of barges capable ot"

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Fig. 2 Tanker terminals at Ashkelon.

Volume 6/Number 5/May 1975

TABLE 1 Range of oil spillages at Eilat and Ashkelon 1969-1973.

Ashkelon Eilat

No. of No. of Tonnes spillages % spillages %

~1 0 0 20 21.7 1-5 3 10.7 62 67.4 5-10 3 10.7 8 8.7 10-15 8 28.6 2 2.2 )'15 14 50.0 0 0

Total 28 100 92 100

receiving oil residues from shipping (Bardin & Mandelbaum, 1974). Oil spiUages at power stations are controlled by equipment drawn from neighbouring ports and oil terminals. To minimize the risk of accidental spillages, proposed power stations will be supplied with fuel oil by pipeline, avoiding the use of tankers.

Eilat Eilat bay, a seaside resort, marine nature reserve and

fishing ground required a special degree of protection with the large increase in oil capacity. Emphasis is placed on preventative measures in addition to the existing methods for the control of oil spiUages (Tahal, 1969). These incorporate in the off-loading methods a system of warnings and legal deterrents. On the arrival of each tanker the officer in charge is presented with written regulations aimed at preventing pollution. The methods used to contain any spiUages include the use of booms situated on one side of the tanker at each jetty and a second projecting 500 m into the bay separating the terminal from the coral beds in the nature reserve. The frequency of spillages was expected to increase proportionally with oil capacity but Table 2 shows that the frequency of spillages have increased disproportionally, indicating that the preventative measures have failed; e.g., 45% of spillages were due to recurrent spills by the same tankers. Oil booms have proved in- adequate since the short wave lengths in the bay enabled contained oil to escape and pollute the shores of the resort and the nature reserve. Consequently the whole policy of pollution control has been revised. Floating pumps, absorbant booms and 'Slick-Lickers' were introduced to remove spills from the bay and absorbants to remove oil from the beaches. Solvent emulsifiers were discontinued after trials as they were found to be harmful to the marine flora and fauna (Eisler, in preparation). A fully equipped pollution control centre is proposed, operated by the Israel Nature Protection Service under the authority of the

t Year

o ~ ' . , 1969 1970 1971 1972 (Jan- ~ ~); ~ , ~ 0 0 0 Mar)

1973

Total

Fi 8. 3 Tanker terminals at Eilat.

Ministry of Transport. The revised policy is expensive, the average cost of

dealing with a litre of spilt oil is £IS 22.7. At Eilat only 49% of pollution incidents were traced to source, usually involving tankers rather than shore installations.

Ashke lon Ashkelon is a seaside resort with popular pleasure

beaches and part of the East Mediterranean f'L~hing ground. A preventative policy of pollution control was attempted by incorporating specific measures in the design and operational specifications of the transfer facility (Tahal, 1969). These measures included the provision of a ballast water line at each anchorage leading to tanks and an oily-water separator, non-return valves on flexible hoses from the buoys on the oil lines, regular cleaning of the ballast lines with sea water after use, absorption of oil by polyurethane foam booms and dispersion by solvent emulsifiers from a purpose built fleet of six launches stationed at the. neighbouring port of Ashdod. In practice, similar trends were discovered to those at Eilat where, p/eventative methods failed to limit the frequency of spiUages as shown in Table 2 (30% of incidents at Ashkelon were recurrent spillages by the same tankers).

Revised methods are now based on mobility. The fleet of launches are situated in a purpose-built basin closer to the anchorages and use solvent emulsifiers to limit the spread of oil. On shore, beach cleaners, (modified from ground nut harvesters) are regularly used with mobile compressors and solvent emulsifiers. These methods are less expensive compared with those at Eilat, averaging £IS 4.7/litre of oil spilt. The detection rate of spillages is 76% where primary sources of pollution are known to be carelessness and human error aboard tankers, particularly overflows which might in part be due to the high loading rates (up to 6000 m3h"). However, some blame is attributable to installations; in particular to leaks in underwater and surface floating flexible hoses. Operational problems include strong winds (65% p.a. onshore wind vector on the Mediterranean coast), creating waves of 2 - 4 m which quickly remove spilt oil from the anchorages, delaying detection and subsequent control operations, particularly during hours of darkness.

Oil and Wildlife There is little direct evidence of oil pollution affecting

TABLE 2 Annual totals of oil spillages at Eilat and Ashkelon 1969-1973.

Ashkelon Eilat

Sum of Sum of $piUages spillages (tonnes) % (tonnes) %

0 0 4.5 ~.9 52.52 12 10.59 4.4

178.08 40.6 66.39 27.9 177.62 40.5 97.3 40.8

(Jan - 30.00 6.9 Jun) 59.7 25.0

438.22 100 238.48 100

At Ashkelon an installation spill of 1600 tonnes in October 1972 is not included.

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wildlife in Israel. Ib i s may be due to the low priority programme of marine research and long term studies.

However, some changes have been noted in recent years, particularly amongst the coral reef tables at Eilat. A general decline of marine macrofauna has occurred, although this cannot be linked to the effects of" any specific pollutants. Similarly, a rapid decline in the numbers of living corals has been investigated and at tr ibuted to factors including crude oil, solvent emulsifiers, phosphate contamination and low tides (Fishelson; 1973). Avifauna are naturally scarce in the inshore waters of Israel.

Oi l a n d Tourism There appears to be no decline in tourist activity al

Eilat, where hotel accommodation has expanded from 800 rooms in 1971 to 2300 rooms in 1973, despite oil, untreated sewage and solid wastes from shipping polluting the tourist beaches. Furthermore, tourists have become accustomed to oil contaminated beaches, regularly using facilities provided by local authorities to remove oil residues from their body and clothing. Reports of oil pollution in the press can be damaging to the local tourist interests resulting in an att i tude that 'no news is good news '

At Ashkelon it is believed that oil operations have influenced tourist activity. With the construction of the

Marine Pollution Bulletin

terminal and translm Iacilities and the news of early spillages, outside investment into tourist amenities has levelled off and now decl ines

We arc particularl) gratelul m Captain Y. Hammel, State Inspector for the Prevention of Marine Pollution, for his comments, and the many other authorities in Israel who were consulted to produce the text. The survey was sponsored by the Anglo-Israel Association under the Wvndham Deeds Scholarship Scheme.

FREVOR DIXON TIM DIXON

Oil Pollution South kas t Kent~ "Ashburnham ", Green Lane, Temple Ewell, Nr D¢)ver.

Kent C T I 6 3AS, O~lk

Bardin, D. J. & Mandelbaum, P. t 1974). Memorandum on Control of Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. Prepared for the Knesset Parliamentary Delegation to the Interparliamentary Confer- ence of Coastal States on the Control of Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. Rome: 29 March - 3 April, 1974.

Eisler, R. Biological effects of crude oil and dispersant mixtures or, marine macro-fauna of the Red Sea (In preparation).

Flshelson, L. (1973). Fcology of coral reefs in the gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea) influenced by pollution. Oecologia, 12, 56 84 .

rahal Consulting Engineers Ltd. (1969). Preventation and Abate ment of Oil Pollution at the Eilat and Ashkelon Marine Terminals. Prepared for the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Co. Ltd., Tel Aviv, Israel

Trace Metal Content in the American Oyster Information about the transfer of pollutants from adult

aquatic animals to their progeny is relatively unknown. The present study was designed to measure the transfer of metals from adults to eggs of the American oyster. Two groups of oysters containing significantly different levels of copper and cadmium were induced to spawn, the eggs were collected and trace metal contents measured. The eggs from both groups of oysters contained the same amount of copper, while cadmium levels were below detectable limits in both groups of eggs. Silver, lead, and zinc concentrations also were determined. The concentrations of these metals were similar for both groups of adults and eggs; thus, no conclusion could be made about the transfer of these three metals from adults to eggs of oysters.

Trace metal composition of many marine organisms has been reported in the literature (Alexander et aL, 1973~ Bryan, 1973; Pringle et al., 1968; Shuster & Pringle, 1969 Windom et al., 1973). These data have been obtained on adult animals and little is known about trace metal burdens in immature stages. Only one article could be found in the literature reviewed on the subject of trace metal burdens in immature stages of aquatic animals. In that article Forrester et al. (1972) examined the mercury content of ovarian dogfish embryos and found that these young animals contained less than 0.03 ppm of mercury in muscle tissue compared to levels of greater than 0.5 ppm in the muscle of adult dogfish.

In the present study the spawned eggs from two different groups of adult American oysters Crassostrea

virginica were exannned for trace metal levels. One group had considerably higher levels of copper and cadmium than the second. The purpose of the study was to determine to what extent copper and cadmium would be transferred from the adult female to the eggs in both high and low copper and cadmium concentration groups.

M a t e r i a l s a n d M e t h o d s Oysters were ~btained trom the t tousatomc River,

Connecticut, and ott the City of Branford, Connecticut. Adult oysters were induced to spawn by raising the temperature of the water in which they were held from 20 to 28°C. When spawning began, the oysters were transferred to individual dishes of clean seawater for collection on a 20 ~m filter after they were passed through a 75 ~m filter to remove detrital and other large materials. 'Fhe eggs were washed by centrifugation in a small volume ,>i" seawater and the supernatant decanted. Eggs from tw,~ females were pooled tor chemical analyses.

The eggs were prepared for chemical analyses as follows: the oyster eggs were dried in the centrifuge tubes al 105-115°C for 18 h Three ml of concentrated nitric acid were added to the dried sample and the tubes were heated at 70°C until the samples were completely dissolved. Fat globules were removed by paper filtration (Whatman No. 2) and samples were brought to a final volume of 5 ml.

The adult oysters were prepared for chemical analyses as follows: The entire oyster° including shell liquor but minus the shel l were placed individually in 250 ml glass beakers and dried at 105 ~ l ~ 5°f ' for 18 h. These oysters did not

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