62
31°3′42″N / 34°50′59″E
November 22, 2011. Initial earthworks and excavation in the construction of the future Ariel Sharon Training Complex (see 25). In 2003 the cornerstone for the complex was laid, and in that year the Ministry of Health published a report declaring that the site of the proposed military base was too close to the Ramat Ḥovav toxic disposal zone, nine kilometers away (see 23), and would thereby be in the wake of hazardous odors, pollution, and radiation. No mention was made in the report, however, of the environmental contamination for the Bedouin communities living less than a kilometer from Ramat Ḥovav. Construction resumed following agreements for the site to meet various environmental stipulations. Visible in the lower right of the image is the foundation of a former home from the unrecognized village of Wādi al-Mshash (see 23), many homes of which remain on the outskirts of the site. When complete, the complex will initially cover 1,600 acres of the Negev.