Tel Aviv’s Court of Administrative Affairs published on March 11 a first of its kind compromise agreement, announcing that surveys of contaminated soil and water must be carried out before further development of the former military site. The process has taken almost ten years. The agreement was negotiated by Eli Ben Ari, Adam Teva V’Din’s senior attorney, with the assistance of consultant expert environmental engineer, Ronny Bruell.
“Since 2003, our position has been that no development can take place on contaminated sites formerly utilized by the Ministry of Defense without prior surveys of the type and extent of contamination,” says Amit Bracha, CEO of Adam Teva V’Din. “We’ve effectively intervened at sites in Bayit Vegan (Jerusalem), Tel Aviv, and Herzliya. We are still in court in regard to development of the Taas Hasharon site in Ramat Hasharon, in a very complicated case regarding three municipalities and other parties.”
The Supreme Court’s overturning of the Apollonia scheme in 2023 created a precedent that construction on contaminated land must be predicated on the outcome of prior detailed surveys.
This precedent came into plan in the negotiations of the Tel Hashomer agreement between Adam Teva V’Din and government agencies following a series of legal petitions filed since 2019. As some development plans have already been at least partially approved, negotiations and compromise were needed. The State will now undertake a number of new measures to ensure there will be no harm to the public from construction of a further 12,000 housing units.
Innovations in the agreement include:
- The Ministry of Environmental Protection must prove absence of risks as a result of contaminated soil both in the area where the building permit was granted and in adjacent lots.
- A professional and independent public representative will receive the same materials that are given to those responsible for implementing the plan, so that a clear professional opinion can be given to the team before moving forward.
- The public will have access to a website that will carry test results, mitigation methods and progress reports, and other data relevant to human safety and environmental conditions.
- The agreement also covers the potential need for ventilation systems in certain areas where soil gases may remain a concern after construction begins; it also mandates periodic groundwater monitoring with State funding, and results will be published online.
Amit Bracha, CEO of Adam Teva V’Din: “Eli Ben Ari has fought long and hard on behalf of Adam Teva V’Din and the Israeli public in order to ensure that future communities at Tel Hashomer will not be exposed to toxic contaminants. This agreement will serve as a cornerstone in the conduct of the State in cleaning up pollution in defense/military complexes, with full public transparency.”
