WRITTEN QUESTION E-3259/03 by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Unpleasant odours from waste disposal site in Ano Liosia.
Date: 2003-11-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Attica, environmental protection, sewage sludge, storage of waste, waste disposal, waste management, water treatment

C 78 E/504

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

into account the criteria identified in the Framework Directive 2002/21/EC, as well as the principles of
necessity and proportionality. The Commission plans to launch the public consultation in the near future,
and to determine a final position by July 2004, in line with its commitment.

(1) COM(2003) 541 final, sections 2.1.3 and 2.2.1.
(2) COM(2002) 263 final.
(3) COM(2003) 410 final.
(4) Directive 2002/21/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on a common regulatory framework

for electronic communications networks and services (Framework Directive), OJ L 108, 24.4.2002.

(5) Draft ETSI ES 202 184.
(6) Oral reply, 11.6.2002.

(2004/C 78 E/0524)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3259/03

by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(4 November 2003)

Subject: Unpleasant odours from waste disposal site in Ano Liosia

Not only the local residents but also the municipal authorities of Petroupoli have recently expressed
concern regarding unpleasant odours emanating from the Ano Liosia waste disposal site, affecting the
surrounding area and in particular the municipality of Petroupoli, causing serious public health hazards
and in many ways detracting from the quality of life and development of the locality. The concern felt by
local residents is all the greater because of the uncontrolled disposal at Ano Liosia of effluent from the
Psyttalia and the Metamorfosi treatment plants, while plans are also being considered for the storage of
waste at the Mousama quarry in the immediate vicinity.

Is the Commission aware of the above situation? What action does it intend to take pending the provision
of new sanitary legal waste burial sites (HYTA), with a view to resolving the problem?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(17 December 2003)

From the complaints it has received, the Commission has learned of the operation of the landfill site in
Ano Liosia and the problem of the disposal of sewage sludge from the urban waste water treatment plant
in Psittalia.

The operation of the landfill site in Ano Liosia is directly connected with the discharge on this site of
sewage sludge from Psittalia. The Greek authorities have been asked to give the Commission information
on the operating conditions at the site and explain why piles of waste collapsed on 10 March 2003. The
Commission is still
to check for any incompatibility with Community
environmental legislation.

investigating the complaint

Regarding the treatment of sewage sludge from the Psittalia plant, the Commission does not believe the
Greek authorities have taken all necessary measures to ensure that the sludge is reused on the site where it
is produced in order to ensure recovery or disposal without endangering human health or harming the
environment.

27.3.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/505

On the grounds that the method of disposing of the sewage sludge from Psittalia, which consists of
transferring it to the Ano Liosia landfill site, already almost full to capacity, is not compatible with the
requirements of Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 on urban waste water treatment (1) or of
Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste (2), as amended by Council Directive 91/156/EEC
of 18 March 1991 (3), the Commission has initiated infringement proceedings under Article 226 of the EC
Treaty. A reasoned opinion was sent to Greece in July 2003. The Greek authorities replied, giving their
comments on the Commission’s allegations. The reply is now being examined. The Commission will take
all the appropriate measures to ensure that Community environmental law is observed.

(1) OJ L 135, 30.5.1991.
(2) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975.
(3) OJ L 78, 26.3.1991.

(2004/C 78 E/0525)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3274/03

by Inger Schörling (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(5 November 2003)

Subject: Impact of the laying of artificial beaches in Caleta de la Guirra in the municipality of Antigua

(Fuerteventura, Spain)

Artificial beaches are being laid in Caleta de Guirra (Municipality of Antigua on Fuerteventura) on a
publicly-owned stretch of coastline. This has destroyed a seaboard of great natural value with significant
marine and fisheries resources (including the species of small crab used as bait for parrot fish). This
symbolic area is also used by native and visiting species of birds such as stonechats, Egyptian vultures,
trumpeter finches, cream-coloured coursers, plovers, turnstones, dunlins, egrets, herons and flamingos as a
stopping-off point, to rest and to nest.
In the course of the work a site of great palaeontological
importance has been discovered. Reports prepared by respected palaeontologists from Canary Islands
universities show this to be the richest and most extensive site found on the island of Fuerteventura to
date. It contains a vast quantity and great variety of marine fossils dating back over 100 000 years. Since
late 2002, heavy machinery has been destroying the seaboard and ravaging the site day after day,
excavating and extracting tonnes of fossil material and carrying it off to an unknown location. The Canary
Islands Green Party has filed a complaint with the local and central government authorities of the Canary
Islands and applied for suspension of the work pursuant to Law 4/1999 of 15 March 1999 on the
Historical Heritage of the Canary Islands. However, the work is continuing, and fresh discoveries are still
being made. A complaint and application for suspension of the work have also been filed with the Office
of the Public Prosecutor for the Environment and Court of Instruction No 2 in Puerto de Rosario. The
Secretary-General for the Environment (see Resolution 7039 in Official State Gazette No 88 of 12 April
2002) exempted the project in La Guirra from an environmental impact statement, ignoring the adverse
opinions issued with regard to it during the consultation process. An environmental impact assessment
should have been an imperative owing to the presence of a palaeontological site and because the area’s
natural resources have been undervalued (impact on the halophile coastal vegetation, on Canary tamarisk,
and on marine phanerogams in the subtidal zone; destruction of the area in which bait is collected for
parrot fish, a species typical to the area and the bait for which is slowly disappearing).

Will the Commission take action to ensure that the impact assessment procedure laid down in Directive
97/11/EC (1) is applied?

(1) OJ L 73, 14.3.1997, p. 5.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(18 December 2003)

The Commission has checked that the area where the project is to be implemented has not been
designated by the Spanish authorities as a Special Area of Conservation included in the Natura 2000
Network within the terms of Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural
habitats and of wild fauna and flora (1).