Israeli officials fined oil major Chevron’s Leviathan platform with a $1.1 million fine for “blatant violations” of water pollution regulations.
Specifically, the Ministry of Environmental Protection stated that Noble’s Leviathan gas platform obtained a permit to discharge process water into the sea when it began operating in December 2019.
Yet, tests revealed that the platform violated some of the conditions in the discharge permit in the first five months after startup. The violations included breaches of a requirement to report deviations to the ministry’s inspectors.
Therefore, the ministry’s top supervision official pursued financial sanctions against Noble under Israel’s Prevention of Sea Pollution from Land-Based Sources Law, and after a series of hearings, the agency issued a $1.1. million fine.
It is added that in August, an independent investigator commissioned by the ministry found that the rig’s operators were unaware of the serious danger posed by a large gas leak that occurred on May 2. Platform staff appeared unaware of industry-standard accident investigation procedures and had difficulty finding the firm’s own hazard assessment materials, the investigator reported.
