Greece faces another hefty fine, this time over sewage
After being slapped with an 11.4-million-euro fine in May for failing to shut down dozens of illegal landfills, Greece may face an additional penalty of at least 14.5 million euros on Tuesday if the European Court of Justice upholds a European Commission recommendation over the country’s poor sewage management record.
Greece may also face an additional fine of 47,600 euros for every day that it fails to comply with a 2007 ruling against the country, which was taken to court over 21 municipal units that did not have proper sewage treatments plants. Since that ruling, two municipalities have continued to flout regulations, prompting the recent action.
These are the municipalities of Rafina-Pikermi and Spata-Artemida, both on Attica’s eastern coast, which have resisted efforts to build a biological waste treatment plant, arguing in favor of having their waste pumped to an existing plant on the islet of Psyttaleia in the Saronic Gulf.
