Bethel Finance: Shutterstock Illustration Photo: Shutters Will State allow unsupervised offshore drilling?

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The State is promoting legislation that would allow for offshore resources exploration projects to be greenlights sans the proper environmental impact reports, Yedioth Ahronoth reported

According to a draft bill prepared by the Justice Ministry, zoning regulations will not be imposed on offshore drilling projects – an ordinance that would exempt entrepreneurs from filing the necessary environmental impact reports, or even perform periodic environmental impact assessments.

The Environmental Protection Ministry warned that unsupervised drilling could result in maritime pollution of various scale – from localized leaks from underwater pipes, to a large scale disaster.

"The fear that a real disaster, like the one that happened in the Gulf of Mexico, may happen here, is keeping me up at night," Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan said.

"That kind of disaster would not only cause ecological and environmental damage, but untold financial and political damage. I simply can't understand how all of the government's ministries fail to rally against such a thing."

The proposed bill does impose some limitations on offshore projects, mainly pertaining to hazardous materials and laying underwater pipes. All of the offshore exploration companies in Israel maintain that they follow all the international standards and guidelines put in place to protect the environmental and the oceans.