Greenpeace revealed a dioxin scandal today in the industrial area of Aspropirgos near Athens. Activists, on board the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior, approached a waste dump area, where a steel recycling plant has been dumping wastes for the last 20 years. An estimated one million tons of rusts and filter dusts are dumped there just next to the sea. A huge banner reading "Danger dioxins" was hanged on the pile of waste.Greenpeace revealed a dioxin scandal today in the industrial area of Aspropirgos near Athens. Activists, on board the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior, approached a waste dump area, where a steel recycling plant has been dumping wastes for the last 20 years. An estimated one million tons of rusts and filter dusts are dumped there just next to the sea. A huge banner reading "Danger dioxins" was hanged on the pile of waste.
Steel recycling (secondary steel smelting) is widely recognised to be a source of dioxins, with contaminant levels in ashes being particularly high. Greenpeace has taken samples of this waste and analyzed it for dioxins. According to the analysis, the pile of waste contains more than 37 gr of dioxins, which makes it the biggest single source of dioxins in Greece. "The Greek authorities consider this waste as inert, while it is extremely toxic", said Stelios Psomas, Executive Director of Greenpeace Greece, on board the Rainbow Warrior. Local authorities are planning to use the rusts for road and rail construction, while the filter dusts are going to be used as additives in cement, a practice, which is common with other steel industries. The whole project is funded by the EU RESIDER II project for the environment. "EU is funding a dioxin scandal", Psomas said.
