The Environmental Protection Ministry approved the findings of the marine environmental monitoring report that the Leviathan natural gas rig located off the coast of Israel in the Mediterranean Sea found no evidence of pollution in the sea and at the bottom around the rig and its facilities.
Rani Amir, Director of the National Marine Environmental Protection Unit at the Ministry of Environmental Protection, stated, “The professionals in the Ministry of Environmental Protection have accompanied the construction of the rig from the early planning stages. The findings of the first marine monitoring report now completed indicate that the stringent regulatory requirements placed on Chevron-Noble Energy along the way enabled the gas production to take place together with uncompromising protection of the marine environment.”
The first monitoring report of the marine environment around the Leviathan gas rig, which is located at sea about 10 km off Dor Beach in the Hof Hacarmel Regional Council and at a depth of about 85 meters, was published in the Freedom of Information database on the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s website. This is the first review to be carried out and summarizes the findings of its impact on the sea, during the first year of operation of the rig.
It was also found that on the legs of the rig a company of animals (of the sea urchin type) developed that filter their food from the water, such as oysters and sponges. The presence of these animals gives additional reassurance that the marine system is healthy and that there is no pollution in the rig environment.