A 59-year-old tanker driver was caught red-handed on the morning of Monday 19 October in Spata whilst transferring liquid waste into a tank on a plot of land. According to the Greek Police, sewage leaked onto the ground during the transfer, posing an immediate risk to public health. A case file has also been opened against a 53-year-old company owner.
The arrest was carried out by the Environmental Protection Department of the Attica General Police Directorate and was not a random check. According to the Hellenic Police statement, officers had placed the plot under discreet surveillance following an investigation, and stopped the driver at the moment the transfer was taking place. The 59-year-old is charged with breaching environmental protection legislation.
What the environmentalists found
Environmental scientists from the Department of Environmental Monitoring, Measurements and Water Economics of the Regional Unit of Eastern Attica were called to the scene. An on-site inspection was carried out immediately after the vehicle had been immobilised. The environmental scientists identified a sewage leak into the ground from two points: from the tanker whilst it was emptying into the tank, and also from a second tanker parked nearby.
The announcement does not specify where in Spata the plot is located, which company is involved, or where the waste came from. Nor does it clarify whether the tank was being used systematically as a dumping site. It merely states that such checks are carried out daily. On Wednesday 21 October, the GADA Waste Dumping Prevention Team announced a further six arrests for the dumping of solid waste in Aspropyrgos, Eleonas and Aigaleo.
Why this affects every home with a cesspit
Most of the Municipality of Spata–Artemida does not yet have a sewerage system. EYDAP (the Athens water and sewerage company) is constructing the network and is inviting property owners, street by street, to apply for a free connection, but the final connection will only be permitted once the Wastewater Treatment Plant is operational. Until then, thousands of households have their cesspits emptied by tankers.
The owner cannot check from home where the waste ends up. However, they can request a receipt for each pumping operation and ask the company where the sewage is being discharged. A cheaper quote is of no use to anyone if the sewage ends up on a plot of land in the area. A sewage leak does not stay on the plot: with the first rainfall, it is washed into streams and the subsoil. Anyone who sees a tanker emptying its contents into a field, stream or plot of land can report it by dialling 100.
To find out how to apply for a free branch connection and what applies until the connection is made, see our article on the sewerage system.
Source: Hellenic Police, press release dated 20 October 2026 regarding the operation carried out by the Environmental Protection Department/D.D.E.E.A./G.A.D.A.
