Hundreds of litres of chemicals to neutralise animal residues
Ο ψεκασμός γίνεται μόνο περιμετρικά, αφού η πρόσβαση στο εσωτερικό του χώρου είναι αδύνατη, καθώς τα ζωικά υπολείμματα βρίσκονται κάτω από την ετοιμόρροπη στέγη — για την οποία, άλλωστε, έχει ήδη κατατεθεί αίτημα κατεδάφισης.
CORFU. Stench, delay, and hundreds of litres of chemicals: the issue of the animal residues remains unresolved, while the authorities exchange correspondence and the area is suffocating in the stench. The Environment Ministry is demanding answers.
Hundreds of litres of chemicals have been used by the Goggakis company in an effort to neutralise the animal residues, following the instructions of the competent authorities. Company sources made the statement in response to a question from Enimerosi, aiming to ease public concern over the prolonged and spreading stench in the surrounding area.
According to the same sources, spraying is being carried out only around the perimeter of the site, since access to the interior is impossible. The animal remains are located beneath a partially collapsed roof, for which a demolition request has already been filed.
The companies contracted to manage the clean-up clarified that the issue concerns waste removal procedures and have announced a timetable of three weeks for completion. However, as of Friday morning, no work had yet begun. The project includes the removal of around 300 tons of waste from Alepou, 200 tons exposed outdoors in Filippiada, and additional material that has been buried there.
The Goggakis company maintains that the proper solution—also in line with the findings of the Health Service’s report—was immediate sanitary burial, and specifically in Corfu. The company adds that even if all operational incineration plants in Greece were to process only Goggakis’s material, it would still take 45 to 50 days to complete the job.
It remains unclear, the company stresses, why a combined approach was not chosen—one that could have spared the area from the ongoing environmental impact, which is expected to last at least another three weeks.
In a letter dated October 30, 2025, the Secretary-General for Solid Waste Management, M. Grafakos, reprimanded the company, stating among other things:
“The way you have managed this environmental issue so far has not been appropriate. As a result, not only has the problem remained unresolved, but a major environmental incident and further degradation have occurred in another area—the Municipality of Ziros in Epirus.”
The letter demands that the company, within 24 hours of receiving the notice, submit a written management plan detailing immediate actions for waste treatment, including animal by-products (ABPs), accompanied by a specific timeline. If no response is received within the deadline, the Ministry of Environment and Energy will take all necessary measures to address the situation directly and charge all related costs to the company.
In a final note, the Goggakis company expressed frustration that the provisions of Law 1069, which allow for emergency sanitary burial, were not activated in its case:
“It could even have been done at Temploni,” a company representative said, noting that “tens of thousands of tons of waste from 2015 are buried there as part of the landfill restoration process. Another 1,500 tons from Goggakis could have gone there.”
Meanwhile, the current offer submitted by the four companies responsible for sorting, transporting, and incinerating the animal residues is reportedly several times higher than the original one.
GIORGOS KATSAITIS
