The quality of the air we breathe is a cornerstone of human survival and existence. Naturally, it is intrinsically tied to the concept of resilience, that is, how well a city can ultimately respond to the climate crisis and effectively deal with its ramifications.
For years, Thessaloniki’s air quality has been a well-documented problem. Greece’s conviction by the European Court of Justice in March 2023 for air pollution in Thessaloniki (specifically for the systematic breach of the daily limit of particulate matter PM10) is a striking example.
Authorities recognize the problem, as evidenced by the meeting of the new Local Operational Coordinating Body for Civil Protection of Thessaloniki Municipality in May and the municipality’s initiative to create the Unified Environmental Management System, a platform for monitoring air pollution.
The city’s main issue lies in its particularly high concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 particles (and to a lesser extent nitrogen dioxide and ozone), which have severe impacts on human health, being linked to cancer, cardiopulmonary diseases, and more. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), air pollution not only causes chronic illnesses but also leads to premature deaths. In 2020, at least 238,000 people in the EU died prematurely due to exposure to PM2.5 pollution exceeding the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.
The primary sources of air pollution include industrial activities, port operations, traffic congestion, biomass burning, and meteorological conditions, explains Theodosis Kassandros1, a physicist and mechanical engineer with a doctorate specializing in air pollution, to Alterthess .
In reference to biomass burning (which is often cited by policymakers as a major cause of pollution), Kassandros highlights that although it contributes to the problem, it is not the primary offender, as high concentrations are observed even in spring and autumn.
Industrial activities also play a role, as evidenced by high concentrations in the industrial areas of Sindos and Kordelio. However, the most significant problem appears elsewhere, with the highest excessive measurements recorded at the Agias Sofias station, classified as an urban traffic monitoring station.
“When you have thousands of cars stuck in traffic from Botsari Street to the city center and beyond, all of them are burning fuel and emitting particles,” Kassandros comments, pointing to traffic congestion as a key issue, which worsened significantly with the start of FlyOver construction.
However, what Thessaloniki truly lacks is a more thorough study of the city’s pollution sources to determine exactly how much each one contributes to the problem, as well as a mechanism to analyze the chemical composition of the particles. “Because, when we know their chemical composition, we can make better assumptions about their origins,” Mr. Kassandros notes. He advocates strengthening cycling infrastructure, replacing public buses with electric vehicles, and creating a major green lung in the city center (e.g., at the Thessaloniki International Fairgrounds) as measures to counter air pollution.
Part of the solution could potentially include low-cost sensors, which are being researched by Mr. Kassandros. Specifically, although they currently lack precision and measurement quality (although they are constantly improving), their extremely low cost allows for their widespread installation throughout the city, creating extensive monitoring networks and providing significantly more data.
Listen to the podcast with Theodosis Kassandros “A Child Counts Microparticles”
For the same issue, we reached out to Yannis Krestenitis, Emeritus Professor of Coastal Engineering and Oceanography in the Department of Civil Engineering at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, who shared with Alterthess2 a brief account of the inaction by the Region of Central Macedonia:
“The responsibility for having a program to address air pollution lies with the Region of Central Macedonia, which commissioned the relevant study in 2018. This study was completed and submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Energy, which deemed it inadequate because it lacked explicit costs and clear measures. Subsequently, the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency (NRCCA) was tasked with conducting an implementation study specifically for the necessary measures regarding particulate matter, which was delivered to the Ministry in late 2022. Yet, even in 2024, there is still no actionable plan on how to tackle air pollution, particularly the issue of PM10 and PM2.5 particles”.
Specifically, the “Operational Action Plan for Combating Air Pollution”, commissioned at the time by the Region of Central Macedonia with a budget of €100,000 from its own resources, was delivered in 2020 and was characterized as innovative. However, according to a document from the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MEE) that deemed the study insufficient, it referenced measures without providing a detailed analysis of their implementation costs, the funding sources, or the necessary legislative adjustments. Most importantly, the study failed to quantitatively assess the contribution of each proposed measure to PM10 concentrations or estimate when, and with what level of compliance, the limit values would be achieved at monitoring stations where excesses had been previously observed. Despite Greece already being referred to the European Court over the issue, a new study was commissioned by the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency, with a €74,400 grant aimed at supplementing the incomplete regional study with specific, quantifiable measures. This study was completed in May 2022, and a few months later, Greece was convicted. However, even this study failed to lead to the adoption of concrete measures, aside from recommendations to reduce biomass burning for heating purposes.
The limits set by national and European legislation for PM10 are as follows:
- An annual mean concentration limit of 40 µg/m³.
- A daily mean concentration limit of 50 µg/m³.
- A daily mean concentration should not be exceeded more than 35 times per year.
- For PM2.5, an annual mean concentration limit of 20 µg/m³.
The years 2023 and 2024 were recorded as having exceeded the PM10 and PM2.5 limits at air pollution monitoring stations in Thessaloniki.
According to data from the Region of Central Macedonia, during the period December 2022 – January 2023, the average daily PM10 concentrations did not exceed 100 µg/m³. However, in December 2023, this threshold was exceeded once at the Agias Sofias station and twice at the Stavroupoli station. In the first half of January 2024, the 100 µg/m³ threshold was exceeded once at the Agias Sofias station and once at the Kordelio station.
Furthermore, in the first half of January 2024, the 50 µg/m³ daily limit was exceeded 7 times at the Agias Sofias station, 7 times at the Kordelio station, 5 times at the Stavroupoli station, and 4 times at the Kalamaria station.
“The levels of particulate matter in the last two months have approached 100 µg/m³ (double the allowable limit) with greater frequency than in the past. The problem is mainly concentrated in the city center (Agias Sofias station) but has also become more pronounced in Kordelio and Stavroupoli. For Kalamaria, although the instances of exceeding particulate matter limits are fewer than in other parts of the city, “the first half of January 2024 saw greater levels than in previous years”, stated the Deputy Regional Governor for Environment and Development, Konstantinos Youtikas, in January 2024. He attributed the primary causes to the increased traffic within Thessaloniki’s city limits, exacerbated by the ongoing FlyOver construction works.
However, the Regional government of Central Macedonia still considers the plan developed five or six years ago to be sufficient. Speaking to Alterthess, Konstantinos Youtikas, eleven months after the aforementioned statements, stressed the following: “Five years ago, we completed a specific plan detailing which projects need to be implemented to reduce air pollution in the city center. At the time, we said that if significant infrastructure projects were not completed, the city would not be able to breathe, so to speak. If the Metro is not finished, if buses are not replaced with electric ones or vehicles that emit fewer exhaust fumes, and if pellet, oil, or even wood-burning stoves and fireplaces in the Ano Poli (old town) are not replaced with natural gas furnaces, we will continue to face such phenomena”.
K. Youtikas expressed confidence that they are monitoring the issue and that this year, with the operation of the Metro, will be a better year for the center of Thessaloniki. In addition to upgrading the operation of Air Pollution Monitoring Stations and installing new stations to cover a wider geographical range of air pollution fluctuations, he noted that the Region is implementing green projects to improve air quality.
Nevertheless, when asked about the ongoing construction of the FlyOver and the anticipated increase in traffic after its completion, Mr. Kassandros admitted that the start of construction caused a sharp rise in air pollution, not only in PM10 particles but also in nitrogen monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon emissions, with their levels increasing even in Kalamaria. According to Youtikas, the FlyOver expressway, once completed, will mitigate congestion on the ring road, which existed even before construction began. “The FlyOver expressway will improve the situation, reducing traffic jams. It will add extra lanes, both vertically and horizontally, to the left and right. This will ease the situation, as fewer cars will pass through the city center, which unfortunately is what we’re experiencing today. It will alleviate city center through-traffic from east to west, thereby improving both air quality and traffic flow, as well as reducing travel time for drivers, visitors, and residents traveling from east to west. Whether in regard to heavy vehicles or regular passenger cars, the pollutants emitted by a vehicle in smooth traffic flow are much lower than those produced when it is stuck in a traffic jam on the ring road,” he explained.
In Western Thessaloniki, Residents Still Struggle to Breathe
A Never-Ending Malodorous Story
Waking up with numbness in your body, a burning throat and eyes, and living with headaches and nausea is something the residents of Western Thessaloniki know all too well, and have experienced for years. What is striking is that despite a 2018 investigation by the Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Control of the AUTH Chemistry Department identifying the source of the odor (the industrial facilities of Hellenic Petroleum) and pinpointing the chemical substances causing the issue, residents remain trapped in a suffocating situation.
Their demand for a better quality of life remains unmet, while justice for the discomfort and the degradation of the air they breathe is still elusive.
Since as early as 2015, residents of the Evosmos-Kordelio municipality have been rallying around the cry that “breathing is a right”. This group of citizens, alongside others like the “Initiative Against Hellenic Petroleum,” have highlighted the issue of the odor and pushed for an investigation into its causes. The group “Breathing is a Right” created a Facebook page to document odor incidents and report them to the relevant authorities, including the municipality and regional government. After numerous protests, petitions, additional reports to the Citizen’s Advocate group and the Environmental Inspection Agency, as well as online postings and campaigns, the Region of Central Macedonia announced that it would collaborate with the Aristotle University’s Chemistry Department and a research team led by Professor Konstantini Samara to investigate the source of the odor. At the same time, the region received a €125,000 donation from Hellenic Petroleum to purchase specialized equipment.
The odor controversy escalated dramatically in September 2017, when it was revealed that a large number of residents in the Kordelio-Evosmos area were being monitored by the private company One Team, acting on behalf of Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE). The company allegedly kept files on residents’ activities, recorded their political views, and made evaluations regarding the odor issue, especially when residents attributed blame to ELPE. The Minister of Environment at the time, Giorgos Stathakis, condemned the action as “politically inconceivable and abhorrent.” In response, ELPE announced it was terminating its collaboration with the private company. (For more details, click here). The Hellenic Data Protection Authority imposed fines of €20,000 and €10,000 on ELPE for illegal processing of personal data, under Articles 4, 5, and 7 of Law 2472/1997, and for failing to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures under Article 10 of the same law.
In February 2019, an interim report from the Laboratory for Environmental Pollution Control of the Chemistry Department identified 55 chemical compounds in 171 air samples collected over six months. Among them were eight mercaptans, the primary cause of the odor. At a related press conference hosted by the Region of Central Macedonia, the study’s lead investigator, Professor Konstantini Samara, not only identified the chemical compounds but also pinpointed the source of the odor, emphasizing that it originated from two specific points within ELPE’s facilities. ELPE, on its part, assured the public that there was no risk to public health. However, Professor Samara noted that while these chemical compounds might not be classified as carcinogenic or toxic, they are potent respiratory irritants and can cause secondary symptoms in the central nervous system, such as insomnia, nausea, vomiting, and headaches. Key findings from the final report by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki follow:
- Based on wind direction and speed, the area where mercaptans originated, near the EDPA station and the 3rd Junior High School, extended from southwest (SW) to west-northwest (WNW) and was close to the sampling locations (wind speed 1-1.5 m/s). Similarly, the origin of mercaptans near the Town Hall was identified as coming from the west, at a greater distance (wind speed 2.5 m/s).
- At ELPE, all odor-causing compounds were detected that, according to international literature, are typical emissions from refineries. Additionally, the highest concentrations of mercaptans among all industrial activities located to the west-northwest (WNW) of Kordelio were recorded, with their operations being associated with the potential emission of sulfurous volatile organic compounds (VOCs). On both sampling dates, extremely high concentrations of mercaptans were observed, particularly at the sludge dehydration unit and the liquid waste treatment unit. These concentrations were up to 20 times higher than the average concentration recorded at the same time in Kordelio. Given that mercaptans and other odor-causing compounds are volatile and easily transported through the air, these units appear to be potential sources of the odor affecting the urban area of Kordelio—particularly under meteorological conditions favorable for airborne transport. (Page 64, Konstantini Samara’s report)
The report was sent to the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Health, and, of course, to the Prosecutor. Following a meeting between Deputy Minister of Environment and Energy Sokratis Famellos and the President and CEO of Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE), Mr. Efstathios Tsotsoros, ELPE announced measures aimed at further improving the environmental performance of the facility.
Although environmental inspectors had conducted on-site investigations at ELPE facilities and submitted their findings to the prosecutorial authorities, the case, according to a report by Vice, was initially shelved. Following renewed investigations, however, the case was reopened, leading to criminal charges against senior executives of ELPE for causing environmental pollution and degradation. The charges at the criminal level specifically relate to the failure of senior executives to ensure proper oversight and enforcement of environmental regulations and standards by company employees.
Years after the alleged offenses and after multiple postponements, the first trial regarding the odor issue reached the courtroom in December 2022, where the two senior officials accused were acquitted. According to Issak Xanthopoulos, who was the General Secretary of the Municipality of Kordelio during the tenure of Mayor Kleanthis Mandalianos, who testified as a prosecution witness in that trial, the odor problem remained the same, while the projects that Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) had committed to advancing in 2019 under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Energy had not progressed. He also attributed blame for the longstanding problems in the area, emphasizing that “if the authorities did not cover up the problem, they at least did not do what they could have”. In July 2024, the second trial for this case, involving a former president of Hellenic Petroleum, concluded in a higher court. The court acquitted the former ELPE executive, who had initially been convicted for environmental degradation through intentional omissions and had been sentenced to one year in prison with a three-year suspension. According to the court president, regardless of whether malodorous substances were released and whether there were omissions on the part of ELPE (which, as she stated, remained unclear), the defendant was not the one legally responsible for taking the appropriate measures.
“Justice does not seem to have the means or the expertise to handle such major cases, nor does it show respect toward society or responsibility,” stated Stelios Dimitriadis, the lawyer representing the residents and a member of the collective “Breathing is a Right,” in an interview with Alterthess. When asked whether the odor phenomenon persists, he confirmed that it does. It should be noted that another trial regarding the same case is still pending and has been postponed to February 5, 2025.
Our discussion3 with the members of the “Breathing is a Right” Initiative in the following video
Where Do Things Stand Today?
No one really knows if the refinery has taken the necessary measures to prevent the release of odorous substances, despite the issue being raised repeatedly in Parliament through numerous questions, mostly from MPs of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). Deputy Regional Governor K. Gioutikas, speaking to Alterthess, stated: “Of the measures announced by ELPE, more than half have been completed. However, some remain unfinished. For example, the large lagoons containing sludge have been removed. Improvements have been made to the biological treatment unit, but the work to cover it and eliminate all odors has yet to be completed, since the treatment facility is located right next to the Kordelio area.” He added that new measurements will soon begin, jointly undertaken by the refinery, the Municipality of Kordelio-Evosmos, and the Region of Central Macedonia, to assess which projects have been implemented and how effectively they have reduced the odor.
“More funds are needed from the responsible authorities to carry out additional projects to improve the situation. Technologies and mechanisms exist, and we will insist on their implementation. We are not satisfied with what has been achieved so far. We will be happy only when all the necessary projects are completed so that the odor in the area stops,” Gioutikas emphasized. Regarding compliance with environmental terms approved for the refinery’s operation, he clarified that the responsibility lies with the Ministry of Environment.
While the problem remains unresolved, accountability has become a game of hot potato between the Ministry of Environment, the Municipality, and the Regional Government. New measurements are constantly being announced, along with the formation of new committees. Last April, it was announced that a new measurement system, developed by a Dutch company and funded by ELPE, would be installed. The system will analyze data and submit it to a seven-member committee composed of scientists from the company, the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), the Region of Central Macedonia, and the Municipality of Kordelio-Evosmos.
The system includes 13 “electronic noses” that will detect and record odor-bearing compounds released into the atmosphere. Alongside this, a program will be launched in collaboration with the Region to repeat the measurements previously conducted by AUTH. The program also features a mobile app where citizens can report odor incidents in real time by pressing an ALARM button.
For Marina Samartzidou-Votsi, a member of the “Breathing is a Right” group, the blame lies in systemic failures, as nothing substantial has been done to improve the situation so far. “For all these years, the noses of thousands of residents told them nothing? And now artificial noses will tell them what? And then what?” she asks rhetorically, before providing her own answer:
“Nothing. They just keep taking measurements, doing studies, new ones, next ones. All of this is just a delay. Nothing more. It’s a waste of time. And a gain for ELPE.”
Research and editing: Jason Bantios, Stavroula Poulimeni, Tilemachos Fassoulas
Up next: The FlyOver Expressway: Yet More Support for the Dominance of Cars
The research of the independent media cooperative Alterthess titled “Urbal Resilience, Climate Neutrality: The case of Thessaloniki” was realised with the support of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung-Office in Greece. Read the complete research here.
