Fish poisoned in Alexander River
Toxic substances tossed into Alexander River, killing its fish and damaging local vegetation
Independence Day visitors at the Alexander River, located north of Tel Aviv, were shocked to discover dead fish floating in its filthy waters, only a short time after the river had been cleaned up and rehabilitated .
Manager of the Sharon district drainage authority Nissim Almon told Ynet they were investigating the incident.
"We arrived at the spot and started conducting tests," he said. "We called in the Health Ministry and the river's monitoring inspector arrived, removed the dead fish, took water samples and sent them to a lab in order to find out the reason behind this intoxication."
For many years efforts to clean up the river have been made. In the past it functioned as the main pipeline for sewage and waste from various plants in the area.
The efforts extended as far as Germany, which functioned as mediator between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, requesting the latter to cease pouring Tul Karem's sewage into the river.
Almon expressed his frustration.
"We invest so much effort and hard work to stop polluting the water. But someone always pollutes and damages," he said.
Several months ago - crude oil found
Almon told Ynet of a similar incident that had occurred several months ago, when crude oil was found in the river. Rain had carried it into the river causing severe pollution and damage to vegetation, water and wildlife.
"We filed a complaint with the police, but to this day we don't know who did it and why," Almon said.
