Brussels sues over dump threatening sea turtles

The European Commission said on Thursday it is taking Greece to court for failing to take action to close a landfill located within a marine park that is home to the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta). Brussels first warned Athens about the landfill in January 2009, but the dump is still operating.

“In addition to being a threat to public health and the environment, the landfill is causing damage through pollution from leakages into the local environment and the spread of plastic bags, and is attracting sea gulls that prey on the turtles’ offspring.”

The Commission said that Greece has failed to keep to its pledge to close the landfill and replace it with one at a different site. Some 80 percent of the loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean nest in Zakynthos.

Πηγή: ekathimerini.com