Sediment pollution by heavy metals in the Strymonikos and Ierissos Gulfs,North Aegean Sea,Greece

Surface sediment samples from Strymonikos and Ierissos Gulfs wereanalyzed for Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr and Ni. The results showed that the sediment of Ierissos Gulf is more polluted with Cu, Pb, and Zn ascompared to that of Strymonikos Gulf. The benthal area located off the load-out facility of the mining operations in the town of Stratoni, in Ierissos Gulf is established as the most pollutedregion. The distribution of Cr and Ni in both gulfs indicates thenatural origin of these metals with the weathering of Strymon River and of other smaller rivers rocks being responsible for their enrichment.     

Arsenic and Other Metal Contamination of Groundwaters in the Industrial Area of Thessaloniki, Northern Greece

In groundwater, used for drinking water supply in the greater industrial area of Thessaloniki, in Northern Greece, concentrations of total arsenic exceeded the WHO provisional guideline value and the EU maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 μg/L. The concentration of total arsenic was in the range between 4–130 μg/L, whereas the median value was 36 μg/L and the average concentration 46 μg/L. Nine out of the eleven wells contained total arsenic at concentration higher than 10 μg/L and it should be stressed that 6 of them contain arsenic at concentrations between 10 (new MCL) and 50 μg/L (previous MCL). The examined groundwaters were found to contain elevated concentrations of manganese and phosphate. Arsenic had a positive correlation with the pH, indicating the possible effect of pH on arsenic mobilisation. These findings emerge the problem of contamination from arsenic, since, according to the EU directive 98/83, all drinking water sources within the European Union should have achieved compliance with the new limits by 12/2003, implying that the situation requires urgent remedial action.     

Life Cycle Assessment of the MBT plant in Ano Liossia, Athens, Greece

The aim of this paper is the application of Life Cycle Assessment to the operation of the MBT facility of Ano Liossia in the region of Attica in Greece. The region of Attica is home to almost half the population of Greece and the management of its waste is a major issue. In order to explicitly analyze the operation of the MBT plant, five scenarios were generated. Actual operation data of the MBT plant for the year 2008 were provided by the region of Attica and the LCA modeling was performed via the SimaPro 5.1 software while impact assessment was performed utilizing the Eco-indicator’99 method.The results of our analysis indicate that even the current operation of the MBT plant is preferable to landfilling. Among the scenarios of MBT operation, the one with complete utilization of the MBT outputs, i.e. compost, RDF, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, is the one that generates the most environmental gains. Our analysis indicates that the exploitation of RDF via incineration is the key factor towards improving the environmental performance of the MBT plant. Our findings provide a quantitative understanding of the MBT plant. Interpretation of results showed that proper operation of the modern waste management systems can lead to substantial reduction of environmental impacts and savings of resources.     

Consensus Building and Sustainability: Some Lessons From an Adverse Local Experience in Greece

The paper focuses on the example of a local island community in Greece, to illustrate the difficulties of effective consensus building, in support of sustainable policies. In the first section the issue of sustainability and the importance of participation are discussed, before moving to a brief outline of the nature of participation and its sources since the 1960s. It follows an analysis of the epistemological framework of consensus building process which is considered as the most integrated and sophisticated version of participatory planning. This analysis serves as a background for judging the appropriateness of consensus building for the resolution of an environmental problem harassing a Greek island community. It is about the problem of water availability and management in the small Aegean island of Leros. The paper shows how illegal practices in the use of water, administrative fragmentation and confusion over knowledge of the problem and its solutions lead to divisions in the stakeholder groups and to obstacles in the way of participation. The intrinsic problems embedded in Greek (and probably not alone) society and political culture, which prevent collective action and participation, account in part for the anticipated risk of unwelcome, illegitimate outcomes of a potential consensus building process. Nevertheless, if communicative planning is to gain universal acceptance, it should first resolve some critical theoretical and practical shortcomings related to its normative, ethical and philosophical assumptions. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Using GIS to study the coastal geomorphology of the Acheloos river mouth in West Greece

In this paper the counteractive dynamic marine and river environments responsible for a river mouth’s and a delta’s modulation is studied. The Acheloos River (West Greece) was chosen as the case study due to the recent changes taken place in its basin. The aim of this study is to analyze the present dominant environment and the impact of human activity on this balance. A GIS database was developed and updated in order to provide access for future use and computer analysis (both spatial and chronological). The study, includes an estimation of the delta forming processes, the impact of the anthropogenic parameters on these processes, and, finally, their representation.     

An Overall Index of Environmental Quality in Coal Mining Areas and Energy Facilities

An approach to measuring environmental quality and trends in coal mining and industrial areas was attempted in this work. For this purpose, the establishment of a reference scale characterizing the status of environmental quality is proposed by developing an Environmental Quality Index (EQI). The methodology involves three main components: social research, the opinion of environmental experts, and the combination of new or existing indices. A survey of public opinion was carried out to identify the main environmental problems in the region of interest. Environmental experts carried out a survey, and the weights of specific environmental problems were obtained through a fuzzy Delphi method and pairwise comparison. The weight attributed to each environmental problem was computed, using new or existing indices (subindices) in the relevant literature. The EQI comprises a combination of the subindices with their own weights. The methodology was applied to a heavily industrialized coal basin in northwestern Macedonia, Greece. The results show that the new index may be used as a reliable tool for evaluating environmental quality in different areas. In addition, the study of EQI trends on an interannual basis can provide useful information on the efficiency of environmental policies already implemented by the responsible authorities.     

Evaluation of the Environmentalist Dimension of Ecotourism at the Dadia Forest Reserve (Greece)

Environmental education and financial support of nature conservation are considered among the primary components of the environmentalist dimension of ecotourism. The potential of environmental education calls for enhancing visitor environmental knowledge and prompting change of visitor behavior. The present study addressed the evaluation of the environmentalist dimension of ecotourism in the Dadia Forest Reserve. The first objective of the research was to study the influence of variables determined prior to the visit, namely, visitor and visit characteristics, visitor environmental information sources, visitor pro-environmental behavior, and visitation goals, on variables determined during the visit, that is, visitor participation in and satisfaction from ecotourism activities. The second objective was to study the effect of selected variables on visitor knowledge and behavior intentions. Visitor participation in and satisfaction from ecotourism activities were primarily controlled by visit characteristics. Levels of visitor knowledge were quite satisfactory; however, coherence among knowledge items was rather loose. On the other hand, behavior intention items revealed the highest possible degree of coherence, which should be attributed to the pervasive influence of visitor satisfaction from watching birds at the Bird Observatory within the Dadia Forest Reserve. Ecotourism activities, during which the main part of environmental knowledge was offered, exerted no effect on visitor knowledge; all the same, they significantly influenced visitor behavior intentions. Overall, visitor behavior intentions revealed a considerable potential of financing environmental protection and providing voluntary work in the frame of the environmental management of the Dadia Forest Reserve.     

Impact of Climate Change on Maize Yield in Central and Northern Greece: A Simulation Study with Ceres-Maize

The potential impacts of climate change on the phenology and yield of two maize varieties in Greece were studied. Three sites representing the central and northern agricultural regions were selected: Karditsa, Naoussa and Xanthi. The CERES-Maize model, embedded in the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT 3.0), was used for the crop simulations, with current and possible future management practices. Equilibrium doubled CO₂ climate change scenarios were derived from the GISS, GFDL, and UKMO general circulation models (GCMs); a transient scenario was developed from the GISS GCM transient run A. These scenarios predict consistent increases in air temperature, small increases in solar radiation and precipitation changes that vary considerably over the study regions in Greece. Physiological effects of CO₂ on crop growth and yield were simulated. Under present management practices, the climate change scenarios generally resulted in decreases in maize yield due to reduced duration of the growing period at all sites. Adaptation analyses showed that mitigation of climate change effects may be achieved through earlier sowing dates and the use of new maize varieties. Varieties with higher kernel-filling rates, currently restricted to the central regions, could be extended to the northern regions of Greece. In the central regions, new maize varieties with longer grain-filling periods might be needed.     

The role of NIMBY in opposing the siting of wind farms: evidence from Greece

This paper aims to assess the relative importance of a NIMBY (‘Not-In-My-Back-Yard’) stance on an individual's opposition to the siting of a wind farm vis-à-vis other predictors, such as perceived effects (costs, risks and benefits associated with the project), perceived fairness of the siting decision and societal trust. Data originate from two case studies, a small wind farm of just two wind turbines in southern Greece and a mega-project of 153 turbines on the Greek island of Lesvos (aggregate N = 334). We use structural equation modelling (SEM) for testing the theoretically-suggested relations between the various constructs. We find that NIMBY is not the most important predictor of opposition while it is strongly correlated with other predictors, such as the perceived unfairness of the siting decision as well as the risks and costs associated with the wind farm. These latter findings undermine the common-sense idea that wishing a wind farm out of one's vicinity (‘Not-In-My-Back-Yard’) is an example of mere ‘free-riding’. Since the fit of the SEM models was found to be moderate, we discuss the limitations of our study and the implications of our findings as well as suggesting pathways for future research.     

Airborne PBDEs in specialized occupational settings, houses and outdoor urban areas in Greece

Airborne polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were measured in workplaces, homes and urban outdoor air in Greece. The geometric mean concentrations of total PBDEs (sum of 19 congeners) in offices (205pgm(-3)), internet cafes/computer rooms (127pgm(-3)) and computers/electronics shops (85pgm(-3)) were significantly higher than those in furniture stores (12pgm(-3)), homes (8pgm(-3)) and outdoor air (18pgm(-3)). The daily inhalation intake of PBDEs estimated for the employees of the four occupational settings ranged from 0.2 to 1.4ngday(-1) and it was significantly lower than the expected dietary intake ( approximately 77ngday(-1)). Although inhalation generally represented a small fraction of the overall daily exposure to PBDEs ( approximately 1%), the results from a heavily contaminated office (10 848pgm(-3) of total PBDEs) indicated that the intake from this route (65ngday(-1)) may, in some extreme cases, be as important as diet.