Staff at the Fyli landfill, northwestern Athens, and local residents were up in arms yesterday following reports that traces of the highly toxic chemical Clophen had leaked onto the site from transformers at a nearby electrical power facility.

The head of the landfill workers’ union, Giorgos Hardas, said some kind of recycling process was under way at a Public Power Corporation (PPC) unit but that it was unclear how toxic waste was being handled. Aspropyrgos Mayor Nikos Meletiou said it would be “monstrous” if Clophen had infected the area. But PPC official Alexis Dimitriou said the transformers do not contain Clophen.

In 2003, Clophen-containing transformers were removed from a Finance Ministry building in Athens, while a generator leaked Clophen during a fire at a power station in Macedonia in the same year.