Tiberias: Sewage plant break-in causes water pollution in Lake Kinneret
Burglars damage machinery, causing polluted water to flow into Sea of Galilee; several beaches closed until water test results arrive
Polluted water were spilled into Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) early Tuesday morning, after burglars broke into the sewage purification plant in Tiberias and damaged machines and other equipment.
The Health Ministry has issued an advisory to the area's residents, asking they refrain from visiting the following Lake Kinneret beaches: Galei Kinneret, Guy, Sironit, the municipal beach, Holiday Inn and Hashikmim. Once details of the contamination become clearer, the Health Ministry is expected to issue an amended advisory. .
"This is a serious criminal act," said Shaul David, CEO of the water and sewage concern Mei-Rakat Tiberias, who was the first to arrive at the scene and stop the flow of polluted water following a complaint received by local police.
"It may have been done by teens as a prank, or perhaps the perpetrator was a former sewage plant employee who knew the facility well," he said, adding that the incident did not affect the quality of the city's drinking water.
"We hope that after we receive the results of the tests conducted on the polluted water tomorrow we will be able to reopen the beaches," the water and sewage concern said in a statement.
