The stench of tons of partially treated sewage on the islet of Psyttaleia has become “completely unbearable” for nearby residents, Piraeus Prefect Yiannis Michas wrote yesterday in a letter appealing for help from Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.

“The atmosphere is suffocating due to the intense odor,” Michas said in his letter, adding that dozens of citizens had lodged official complaints.

Karamanlis visited Psyttaleia in June to inaugurate a drying unit for the sludge produced by the islet’s waste-processing center. But some 300,000 tons of accumulated sludge reportedly remains on the island and is believed to be the source of the stink reaching residents in Piraeus, Perama, Keratsini, Drapetsona and Salamina.

Michas also spoke to Deputy Environment and Public Works Minister Themistoklis Xanthopoulos, who reportedly blamed the smell on “a sudden change of wind” during asbestos-laying works which, he said, would conclude soon.