Psyttaleia sludge is piling up
Piles of processed sewage with nowhere to go are building up again at the Psyttaleia treatment plant, according to Piraeus Prefect Yiannis Michas, who said yesterday that he was going to fine the water board, which runs the site, 100,000 euros for not complying with environmental standards. Michas said that more than 130,000 tons of sludge had built up on the islet, just off Piraeus, and locals were complaining about the stench. Athens’s only landfill, at Ano Liosia, stopped accepting sludge from Psyttaleia at the end of last month. A temporary plan, proposed by the Athens Water and Sewage Company (EYDAP) in March, to bury the waste at unspecified sites by autumn until a special drying plant can start operating on the islet, has yet to swing into action. Meanwhile, health and environmental safety inspectors discovered last month that EYDAP was breaking a number of rules at Psyttaleia which were raising pollution risks in the surrounding area, Michas said. The Piraeus Prefecture is due to hand the 100,000-euro fine to EYDAP within the next few days.
