Report shows Fyli landfill a health hazard

Concerns have been raised over the safety of capital's old and new landfills at Fyli, northwestern Athens, after a report published on Wednesday described the situation as “desperate.”

The report, compiled in 2015 but published Wednesday, raised the alarm over high levels of pollution in the air, the soil and groundwater in the wider region, raising urgent questions regarding the safety of workers at the landfill and the residents who live in the surrounding areas. 

The analysis of pollutants and their composition over an area covering 1,000 hectares at the Fyli landfills was conducted on behalf of the municipality by a private company.

However, the data was only made public by the “Western Front” collective after a two-year-long legal battle, as the Municipality of Fyli refused to disclose the contents of the report.

Tellingly, to give a few examples, levels of nitrogen oxide in the air were over 300 μg/m3, way above the 200 μg/m3 limit.

Moreover, the level of cadmium in the soil was more than 112 μg/m3 when the legal limit is 12 μg/m3 while 725 µg/L of nickel was detected in the groundwater, when there should be no more than 20 µg/L.

In addition, the report said radioisotopes were identified at the site of the old landfill, whose emissions “exceed the upper limits of ionizing radiation, resulting in a major environmental problem (contamination of soil, air and all water resources) and a burden on human health.”