Health Ministry Advises Caution After High Benzene Levels Near Haifa Refinery
Translated & summarized from Davar by baba
Israel's Health and Environmental Protection ministries issued public warnings on Sunday due to high benzene levels near Haifa's Bazan oil refinery. Classes were canceled Monday at two Kiryat Ata schools, and the public is advised to limit outdoor activity. Maintenance work at the refinery has been stopped following the abnormal readings, which were detected over the weekend and on Monday.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- High benzene levels were detected near Haifa's Bazan oil refinery complex.
- Classes were canceled Monday at two Kiryatאת schools near the refinery.
- The public within a kilometer of the refinery is advised to limit outdoor activity.
- Maintenance work at the refinery has been halted due to the abnormal readings.
- The ministries will reassess the situation based on ongoing monitoring data.
Israel's Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued public guidance on Sunday following the detection of unusually high benzene concentrations near the Bazan oil refinery complex in Haifa. As a result, classes at two schools in Kiryat Ata, the social high school and Erezim elementary school, which are located near the refinery, were canceled for Monday and will be moved to alternative locations. This decision was made in consultation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and coordinated with the Kiryat Ata municipality.
General public within a kilometer of the refinery are advised to avoid unnecessary outdoor activity, with special emphasis on children and pregnant women. Workers in the industrial zone are recommended to close windows and use air conditioning. Maintenance work at the refinery, which had been ongoing and was reportedly related to repairs from wartime damage, has been halted due to the abnormal readings.
The ministries stated that during the weekend of October 9-10, 2026, extremely high benzene levels were measured at a monitoring station near the "Dshanin" industrial zone in Kiryat Ata. Other monitoring stations around the complex registered normal values during that period. On October 11, elevated benzene levels were also recorded at the "Old Licensing Office" monitoring station in Haifa and at the Kiryat Ata station (mobile unit 4). The ministries plan to reassess the situation based on ongoing monitoring data and will provide further updates to the public.
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