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A lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection has led to the imposition of a record 280,000 shekel fine on Kibbutz Na'an, located near the city of Rehovot, for water source contamination. The fine was imposed both on the kibbutz and on two of its senior officials - the farm coordinator and the dairy farm coordinator. The defendants were charged with improperly treating dairy farm wastes on different occasions in 2000 - 2003. Piles of manure were left on exposed soil, manure and leachates overflowed toward drainage canals, large parts of the dairy farm were left exposed without sheds or suitable gutters, containment facilities did not exist and manure was allowed to wash away with the rain. Kibbutz Na'an is located in the Soreq River watershed in the eastern part of the coastal aquifer, the main aquifer supplying pumped water in Israel. On May 29, 2007, after the dairy farm was removed from the kibbutz and the area was cleaned up, the court convicted the defendants of the charges against them. On August 6, 2007, the court fined the kibbutz 280,000 shekels and obligated it to sign an undertaking in the amount of 300,000 shekels to refrain from offenses under the Water Law for a two-year period. The farm coordinator was fined 3,600 shekels or 40 days imprisonment in lieu of the fine. The dairy farm coordinator was fined 750 shekels or 10 days imprisonment in lieu of the fine. The fines will be paid into the Maintenance of Cleanliness Fund. Att. Tamar Zohar of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Environmental Protection noted that this is the highest fine imposed on a dairy farm to date. The sentence reflects the policy of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the position of the courts regarding raising the penalty level against environmental polluters in general and polluters of water sources in particular. In the sentence, the judge related to the following, among others: "The deeds of the defendants are severe. Due only to the economic considerations of defendant 1 and his intention to transfer the dairy farm from Na?an to a more distant location using the assistance offered within the framework of the dairy farm reform, the defendants disregarded requests and inspection reports, refrained from investing in dairy farm infrastructure in Na'an and did not repair what was necessary to prevent or reduce nuisances, for a long period of time.
The defendants ignored the requests of representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the inspection reports which were transferred to them and continued to operate Na'an's dairy farm, while causing the nuisances described in the sentence, although aware of the sensitive location of the dairy farm near the drainage canal."
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