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Untreated Palestinian Sewage Contaminating Israel's Groundwater
(Ha'aretz) Zafrir Rinat - Almost 90% of sewage from Palestinian towns in the West Bank flows into the environment untreated, contaminating the groundwater and 162 km. of streams, according to a report prepared by the Israel Parks and Nature Authority. Israel has tried to cope with the problem by building treatment plants near the Green Line separating Israel from the West Bank and treating the contaminated water once it enters Israel. A lack of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation has impeded solutions to this problem. For example, the Palestinian Authority refuses to cooperate to connect Palestinian towns in the northern West Bank to an Israeli sewage line because the line also serves several settlements. It also nixed a proposed treatment plant that would serve both Palestinian towns and the city of Ariel.