Poisonous Water Found in Chalkidiki

28/3/2016

Water with very high concentration of arsenic was detected in a stream in Chalkidiki, close to the mining fields of Skouries. The issue was revealed by the reporter N.Psarou and the municipality accepted that the water was highly polluted yet called the report a lie

The situation became widely known when N.Psarou published a report where she spoke of the instant perish of a herd of forty animals and went on to state that it is suspected that the reason behind the incident was that they had watered in that stream. The stream is formed in the junction between two smaller ones which come from mining areas.

The reporter noted that a chemical analysis of water samples from that stream revealed an extreme concentration of arsenic  at 580mg/lt when the acceptable, potable, limit is 10mg/lt. The analysis had been sent to the municipality which covers that area yet nothing had been publicized.

Upon publication, the municipality of Aristotelis, chose to attack the reporter, accusing her of writing fiction and dealing with "exceptional frivolity" with the subject. Yet when it came to the actual facts, the municipality confirmed that the article is correct in every detail that it presented concerning the arsenic and heavy metals in the water.

The municipality issued a statement saying that "when seepage of surface water was observed at the area...(the municipality)...proceeded to take water samples from the area and send them for analyses" according to the same statement the analysis revealed that there were indeed very high concentrations of arsenic and other heavy metals. When asked why it had not publicized those findings, the municipality answered that these were part of an ongoing court investigation. 

The behaviour of the municipality has given grounds for concern to the citizens as well as the Organisation for the Observation of the Mining Activities in the area. More precisely the Observatory asks what would have happened had Mrs.Psarou not revealed the situation. It should be noted that the municipality itself, in its own statement accepts that the stream is situated close to farmland, grazing land, and homes in general.

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