Charges over medical waste
Piles of toxic waste being dumped regularly outside the Attikon Hospital in Haidari, western Attica, have been posing a public health risk, state inspections have revealed. An unidentified private firm has been transferring tons of refuse from state and private hospitals across the prefecture and depositing it in an outdoor area on the Attikon’s premises for collection, sources told Kathimerini. According to Margarita Karavasili, a senior official at the Environment Ministry’s inspectorate, both the transfer and storage of the waste violates health and safety regulations. The ministry issued a statement saying that charges had been lodged against all parties responsible for the transgressions. The ministry said it was also investigating the possibility that the waste was destined to be incinerated, in Greece or abroad. The director of Attikon Hospital, Ilias Lambiris, told Kathimerini that the institution’s contract with the transportation firm alleged to have been dumping the waste had expired in 2007.
