One of only two rivers that runs through Athens, the Kifissos river which runs from the Parnitha and Pendeli mountains to Nea Philadelphia, has been compared to being as dirty and unhealthy as an open sewer.  Back in the '90s, 200 plants and factories were located on either shore of the river; and were dumping toxic waste into the river.  In 1994, the government deemed the problem so bad that a special presidential decree was made to protect the river basin.

 

A doctoral thesis completed in 2004 by Apostolos Moustakis, a chemical engineer at the University of Piraeus, concluded that the waters and beaches near the port were contaminated with chrome, lead, iron and nickel, emanating from the Kifissos River. Traces of some metals had reached more than three times the permitted levels.

 

Good story by Athens News after the jump.