Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-10-25-Speech-2-234"
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"en.20051025.21.2-234"2
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".
Madam President, Mr Papadimoulis has tabled several questions on this issue and I am always in the happy or unhappy position of replying.
The Psyttalia station has been operating fully since December 2004 and takes care of third-level treatment of urban sewage discharged into the sensitive area of the Saronic Gulf.
During the construction and upgrading of the station, complaints were submitted to the Commission about the handling of the sludge – the sewage sludge – produced. In October 2002, the Commission instituted infringement proceedings against Greece in accordance with Article 226 of the Treaty, on the basis of the fact that the Greek authorities had not made provision for the disposal of the sewage sludge in a manner which was compatible with Community environmental legislation.
The infringement proceedings brought about results, in that in August 2003 the Greek authorities finally decided to construct a drying unit on the island of Psyttalia, at which the sludge would be converted to solid matter of adequate calorific value for subsequent incineration in suitable installations.
There are similar applications in other European countries. It should be emphasised that, in December 2004, the Commission decided to cofinance the project within the framework of the Cohesion Fund. The project must be completed by the end of 2007. This is expected to resolve definitively the problem of sewage sludge management. However, despite all these positive developments, there is still the problem of the management of the sewage sludge already stored on the island and of the sewage sludge which will be produced on a daily basis until the proposed drying unit is commissioned.
One solution is to transport large quantities of untreated sewage sludge by ship and lorry to the sanitary landfill site in Ano Liosia, on the mainland outside Athens. However, this solution presents certain environmental problems: possible contamination of the waters due to the discharge of sewage sludge into the sea, repercussions due to emissions from the transportation of waste over a distance of 21 kilometres through a densely populated area and danger of contamination due to spillage of waste during transportation.
In addition, the disposal of the treated sewage sludge in the sanitary landfill site at Ano Liosia is considered to be a factor which will lead to the saturation of the site.
Consequently, the Commission considers the method of disposal of the sludge referred to above to be incompatible with Community environmental legislation. The national authorities are responsible for the selection and implementation of a suitable method for the temporary treatment of the sewage sludge, pending the completion of the proposed drying unit.
The Commission is evaluating the temporary solution proposed by the Greek authorities, a sort of soilification procedure, in conjunction with the operation of the sanitary landfill site at Ano Liosia and, if necessary, it will not, of course, hesitate to institute judicial proceedings against Greece, because this is required not only by Community legislation, but also by the need to protect citizens' health and the environment. Within the framework of its powers, the Commission is taking – and shall continue to take – all the necessary measures in order to safeguard compliance by the Member States with Community legislation."@en1
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