"The sword over the workers' necks" and the depleting resource: The trap of the polluting plant in the Negev

Thousands of families who make a living from the Rotem Amfert plant fear a wave of layoffs after the holidays, against the backdrop of the delay in approving the use of pond 4. On the other hand, Lobby 99 claims that the company is exploiting the workers' anxiety to obtain environmental concessions.

Dr. Oded Keinan warns that even if the current crisis is resolved, the dependence on the depleting phosphate leaves the sword of layoffs over their necks. In the background: the promotion of mining in the Sde Brir field, even though an expert opinion relied upon by the Ministry of Health estimated that the pollution could cause seven excess deaths each year in the Arad area.

For Eden Gal, the dispute over the phosphogypsum ponds of Rotem Amfert is not just another legal battle between a corporation and environmental organizations. After almost 37 years in the plant's research and development department, this is a fight for her second home and for the future of the young workers she meets every morning. "I am almost at retirement age," she says, "but I look at all the young people at the plant, with mortgages and children. I see how much they love the work and put their soul into it. It hurts me that they are playing with their livelihood and their lives."

"Prevent pollution"

Gal, a resident of Beersheba and a mother of four, is convinced that the company has invested efforts to meet environmental requirements. "I know the processes and I know how strict we are. For five years they worked on pond 4 and introduced measures to prevent pollution and ensure it is stable. We were told that the plan was approved, and then suddenly we discovered that everything was open again."

However, the debate is not really between the workers and the environmental organizations. Lobby 99 emphasizes that the workers are not responsible for the crisis. The criticism is directed at the company's management, which, according to the organization, knew for years that it had to promote a permanent solution, but is now placing the workers' anxiety at the forefront. Thus, any opposition to the company's demands is translated into a threat to thousands of families, and the workers are sent to fight for decisions they did not make.

At the center of the struggle are actually three ponds for storing wet phosphogypsum, the waste generated during phosphate processing. Pond 5 is the active reservoir today, but according to Rotem Amfert, it is expected to be full by April 2027. Pond 4 is an old reservoir that the company is asking to re-qualify as a temporary solution for five years, in order to continue production after pond 5 is full.

However, the reservoir is located above the drainage basin of Nahal Ashalim and in an area where groundwater pollution already exists, and in 2017 an environmental disaster occurred following the collapse of a wall in one of the ponds. Therefore, environmental factors warn that its use could increase the seepage of pollutants and even create a risk of another breach.

No economic justification

Pool 6, on the other hand, was planned in a place considered safer and is intended to serve as a permanent solution for 30 years, but building it from scratch is significantly more expensive. The company has argued over the years that there is no economic justification for investing in it without certainty regarding mining reserves and the continuation of the plant's activity, and therefore preferred to qualify pond 4. Opponents argue that in doing so, the company is trying to choose the cheaper alternative for itself, even though its environmental price could be much higher for the public.

The Southern District Committee approved the plan by a majority vote. However, following a petition filed by residents, Lobby 99, and the Society for the Protection of Nature, the District Court allowed an appeal to be filed with the National Planning and Building Council. The hearing was set for the end of October.

For the workers, even this wait is difficult. "People are walking around dejected and leaving for the holidays without knowing if they will return," says Avishai Baskar, manager of the department that pays the site's yard contractors. "In the Negev, there are not many places that offer such quality employment. We are talking about about a thousand direct employees and thousands more families in the circles of contractors, suppliers, and service providers."

Workers' Committee Chairman Moshe Hadad added: "Behind the legal and planning moves stand thousands of workers whose place of livelihood is in danger. The workers and the Negev cannot remain in this unbearable uncertainty." However, the claim that the delay will necessarily lead to a shutdown and layoffs is not agreed upon. In a request for an urgent hearing, Rotem Amfert claimed that it directly and indirectly employs about 11,000 workers and that a temporary shutdown could cause corrosion and irreversible damage to its facilities.

"Human shield"

Chairman of the Appeals Subcommittee, Adv. Moran Braun, stated that the possibility of damage should not be ignored, but noted that the claim that the gap between closing pond 5 and opening pond 4 would lead to the severe consequences described by the company was presented "without sufficient support." According to him, it is unclear whether any delay beyond April 2027 will indeed lead to this.

"Rotem Amfert is again cynically using its workers as a human shield, through no fault of their own, to evade responsibility for the failure it created itself," said Lobby 99. "No one is asking to close the plant or fire its workers, but to demand that the company meet its obligations and the law."

The dispute began with a plan approved in 1998 that ordered the cessation of the use of old ponds and their rehabilitation. In 2017, the wall of reservoir 3 collapsed, and millions of liters of acidic wastewater flowed into Nahal Ashalim and caused one of the most severe environmental disasters in Israel. After that, the company was allowed to continue using reservoirs 4 and 5 temporarily, alongside the promotion of reservoir 6. In 2021, it was determined that the new reservoir would start operating within three years, but its construction was not completed.

Pollution is not just an environmental issue. The aquifer, the land, and the reserves are public assets, and damage to them creates costs for rehabilitation, monitoring, and water treatment. Following the Ashalim disaster, Rotem Amfert agreed to pay 115 million shekels for the rehabilitation of the stream and compensation to the public, of which 65 million shekels were intended for rehabilitation works.

The discussion does not end with the phosphogypsum ponds. In the background is also the struggle over phosphate mining in the Sde Brir field near Arad, where thousands of Bedouin residents live. An expert opinion relied upon by the Ministry of Health estimated that dust emissions from the mine's operation could increase the mortality rate in the area and lead to seven excess deaths each year, four of which are due to heart and lung diseases, alongside an increase in respiratory morbidity.

Health implications

However, this is an estimate made years ago, and later publications noted that an updated estimate based on new models has not yet been presented. The Ministry of Health continues to oppose the promotion of mining and warns of long-term health implications, but a final decision on the matter has not yet been reached.

On the other hand, the plant's activity generates taxes and royalties for the state, supports exports, and provides employment. However, according to published data, the state collected royalties from Rotem Amfert of about 8.6 million shekels in 2020 and about 10.3 million shekels in 2019. Hence the question arises as to what return the public receives for a resource that belongs to it, compared to the environmental price associated with its extraction.

Dr. Oded Keinan, an ecologist, resident of Ein Tamar, and co-CEO of the Heschel Center for Sustainability, who is among those who filed the appeal, argues that the struggle is not against the workers but against a model that leaves them dependent on one corporation and a depleting resource. "Whether it is bromine, potash, and salt from the Dead Sea or phosphate, these are natural resources that belong to the public," he says.

"The state grants the corporation a franchise and receives royalties and taxes. On the other hand, the corporation says it employs thousands of people and therefore holds the Negev. But a gap is created between the company's profits and the return the public receives for a resource that is running out." According to him, a large part of the produce is directed to export even though phosphate is essential for agriculture. "A country that thinks about its food security should ask how much of the resource remains for future generations," he said.

Heavy air pollution

In the background is also the struggle over phosphate mining in the Sde Brir field near Arad, where a Bedouin population numbering thousands of residents lives. The Ministry of Health has warned over the years of an increase in morbidity and mortality as a result of air pollution, but a final decision on mining has not yet been reached.

Keinan also points to the gap between the warnings to the workers and the picture presented to investors. "If the danger is real, the government should prepare now for the day when the plant will not be profitable. And if it is not as immediate as they present it, it is forbidden to use the workers to exert pressure."

Beyond the decision on pond 4, the struggle exposes a broader problem: the state allows a private corporation to profit from a public depleting resource, while simultaneously leaving thousands of families dependent on continued mining. If the employment threat is real, it requires creating employment alternatives in the Negev now. The responsibility towards the workers does not end with ensuring their work after the holidays, but requires planning for them a future that does not depend on one corporation and a resource that is running out.