The Lod police and municipality, who struggle daily with environmental offenders who cause fires in the coastal plane area, succeeded in promoting a serious indictment against the owners of a pirate transit station and landfill near the village of Dahmash, including confiscation of tools.
The indictment alleges the defendants ran and operated an illegal business to collect and remove waste. "The defendants together encouraged absorption of waste at the transit station when they did not have the necessary licenses and/or permits, did not take reasonable and effective measures to prevent dumping waste at the site, did not take any measures to cover the waste and to stop the fires at the site, they did not erect a full perimeter fence, and did not install signs.
"Throughout the period, the waste transit station was operated by the defendants without the necessary infrastructure and means required by law to operate a waste transit station in a manner that does not prevent unreasonable air pollution and odor, and without the defendants taking the necessary measures to prevent air pollution and unreasonable odor from transit stations and sites for trash disposal. In their actions and omissions detailed in the indictment, the defendants threw together construction waste in the public domain and polluted the public domain, causing a nuisance to the public," the indictment states.
Additionally, the indictment describes how the method worked. Dumping was carried out under the cover of night, in an open public area with the trucks moving without lights. The waste contained concrete blocks, planks, asphalt, concrete, trees, iron, and other waste-containing materials and residues used for construction. With bulldozer and Bobcat the waste was pushed to the margins of the area, creating a huge mountain of garbage that caused a real and aesthetic hazard.
The indictment also shows that the defendants together created a hazard that will take years to rehabilitate and the costs of which are measured in millions of shekels, all on the land of the Israel Land Administration. The cost of saving landfills attributed to the defendants is estimated at NIS 8 million.
Mayor Yair Revivo expressed satisfaction at the serious indictment and noted that the municipality and police will continue carrying out targeted activities that result in seizure of a number of pirated waste offenders who received heavy fines and whose trucks were confiscated.
"The municipality and police see the grave hazard as one of the main goals, and we'll work hard against violators of the law and enforce the law to the fullest extent possible, including filing indictments and imposing heavy fines, and confiscating vehicles used to commit the offenses. Lod residents are entitled to clean air without suffering stench and burning of toxic and dangerous substances," Revivo said.
"We'll continue to demand from all enforcement agencies, including the Green Police and the Environmental Protection Ministry, to act around the clock and carry out focused, consistent, and determined activity to capture the perpetrators and bring them to justice with full severity," he added.