Dead Sea acid spill has turned popular hike route into long-term disaster zone

Despite ongoing 24-hour-a-day cleanup, the Arava’s Ashalim stream will take years to rehabilitate after toxic sludge deluge By Melanie Lidman Two weeks after tons of acidic slurry poured into the Ashalim stream near the Dead Sea, experts are still working around the clock to contain what is emerging as one of Israel’s most devastating environmental disasters.…