Oil spill on the shore of Athens, after a tanker sank

People stand on a beach where an oil spillage has been washed-up at Glyfada suburb, near Athens, on Thursday,Sept. 14, 2017. Greek authorities insist they are doing everything they can to clean up pollution caused by an oil spill following the sinking of a small oil tanker that has left large sections of the Greek capital's coastal areas coated in viscous, foul-smelling oil. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

Popular beaches are polluted with oil on the outskirt of Athen, after a tanker sank five days ago, near the coast of Athens. Environmentalists are raging, because of the sluggish reaction of the authorities.

 

Several beaches outside of the capital are now closed, due the sand is covered with a thick layer of pollutant substance. Fishermen were also told to avoid the affected areas.

Environmentalist think, that the case shows, the authorities are not capable of handling even a minor oil spill.

“This oil leak occurred close to the country’s largest harbour, just a few kilometres from the ministry’s operation centre dedicated to dealing with such disasters”, says campaign leader of Greenpeace in Greece, to the news portal in.gr.

“Incredible”, WWF Greece agrees with the criticism.

“It’s amazing that Greece, a country with so many tankers in its waters, has been proven to be unable to cope with, what was for all intents and purposes a modest event” said WWF Greece general manager Dimitris Karavelas, when asked by Skai TV.

 

On Sunday, the oil spill first hit beaches on the island of Salamina, just outside Athens, but the authorities were confident, the spread of the substance could be stopped, because the wind was only mild.

 

But by Thursday, part of the spill had reached the coasts of the wealthy suburb of Glyfada, southeast of Athens, threatening popular beaches of Voula and Vouliagmeni.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today