INDUSTRY AND BODY

Looking back on the various lives of Elefsina, the storeis of the city and life inside and outside the factories describe images, sounds, smells, tastes, textures, as equally often as they recount incidents of cold, heat, fear, concentration, and tiredness. In his effort to establish an archaeology of the senses, Yannis Hamilakis seeks to understand how people construct their stories through experiences of sensations that involve matter. As he claims, this is a way to comprehend the "skin" and the "flesh" of the world.

We are introduced to the material environment of Elefsina through experiences and perceptions related to the central elements that determine the atmosphere of the city throughout its various phases. Which sensations help form the atmosphere of Elefsina, or, in other words, how does the atmosphere of Elefsina affect the sensations of its people in both their daily lives and their professional activity? The city’s atmosphere is further burdened by work accidents and occupational diseases, which, in a city like Elefsina, become landmarks in the history of the city, its industry, and its labour movement.

The following map attempts to illustrate the sensation of the city. The materials used for the map were compiled through interviews and secondary sources. The map is not chronologically continuous and the sounds and excerpts included refer to the past or contemporary life in Elefsina.

The experience of sensations, as well as the perceptions about the significance of air, sea, and soil pollution change depending on the period. Following this pattern, there were various protests from resident groups, which, over the years, evolved into more massive movements. Initial forms of local protests emerged during the 1960s, yet they were limited and sporadic in nature.

In an article published in 1966 in the newspaper Eleftheria we read about a request to install filters in the smokestacks of TITAN made by the municipal authorities, because "the cement dust emitted into the atmosphere causes damages to the archaeological treasures of the region and threatens the health of its residents". The presentation of the problem in the newspaper is particularly interesting, since it appears to prioritize the damage done to antiquities over the hazards for the health of local residents.

After the Metapolitefsi, from the mid-1970s onwards, the emergence of a more structured discourse regarding the protection of the environment becomes evident. This discourse followed the international trends established by the environmental movement, whose demand against environmental destruction was rooted in a wider social and political awakening.

For example, the Athens Environmental Pollution Control Program (PERPA in Greek), the very first public agency specialized on topics related to environmental protection, was established in 1974 with the management of environmental pollution as its primary objective. Furthermore, from 1976 to 1977, the Hellenic Post (ELTA in Greek) created a collectible line of postage stamps on the subject of environmental protection. One of these stamps depicted the Parthenon, and, behind it, the shadow of Chalyvourgiki, underlining the prominence of Elefsina’s industrial area in the collective memory of the Greeks, as well as the conflicting notions about industry, and, by extension, the atmosphere and the people defined by industry, against the protection of antiquities, in this specific case.

The facilities of TITAN are adjacent to the archaeological site of the Elefsinian Mysteries. The ancient stones are in a dreadful state because of the erosion, the cement dust, the gases, etc. The citizens have rallied on numerous occasions through protests and requests towards the entities competent to save the archaeological site by removing the factory. To no avail. Furthermore, the largest chimney, which produces as much cement as all other chimneys in the factory combined, was built before 1967, despite the opposite opinion of the relevant branch of the Archaeological State Service.

RIZOSPASTIS | 1974 

The strong smell of olive pomace oil provoked the senses of Elefsina’s residents well before the period of Leventis’ mayorship. The stones of olives had been used as home fuel since the 1950s and the air was soaked with their odor.

The Elaiourgio (Olive Oil Mill), after processing the olives, left out the stones, which weren't used; it came out all mashed and in irregular shapes, which–because we used to be rich then, right? [Laughter]–we collected and bought; we are talking about thousands of tons, you know? Thousands of tons, of processed stones, pits, which was fuel, and we bought it to keep ourselves warm at home […] When you can’t keep yourself warm, when you don’t have enough to eat, you don’t mind the bad smell.

GIORGOS ROKAS

Still, this evocation of sensations is not occurring solely from newspaper articles and personal testimonies. There are various spots around the city that stand as testimonies to people’s experiences with matter. The mountain eaten away by the quarry of TITAN, the quagmire with the decommissioned ships at Vlycha, the embankments over large tracts of land by PETROLA, Chalyvourgiki and the shipyards, and even the streets of Elefsina are material traces that testify to stories of sensations.

The hardest process for the furnace workers was to remove the slag left behind by the burnt coal. They did that with huge and very long rasps; since it would burn them, you had to stick it in to hook the slag and pull it out to extract it. The every street of Elefsina was strewn with this slag! Even at the stadium of Panelefsiniakos the substratum is all slag from the factories! Because we didn’t have asphalt in those days and we used slag [instead], which lasted longer, and a little soil on top… What could the factory do with it? They threw it away. Elefsina is carpeted with slag from the furnaces of its factories, because factories operated on coal and oil wasn’t used until later.

MICHALIS GALANAKIS | EXCERPT FROM INDUSTRIAL MEMORIES (2006)

The gulf of Elefsina, the air, and by extension the entire city were increasingly burdened by the advent of industry in the Thriasian Plain over the course of the 20th century. The sensations recalled in the memories of locals in relation to the gulf of Elefsina change both dramatically and traumatically over the years. The personal and collective experiences of the city’s atmosphere changed depending on the period.

During the 1950s and the 1960s, the blasts and the dust caused by TITAN created clouds over the city. At the same time, however, the sea at the gulf of Elefsina was crystal clear, and there were certain spots where cold water was flowing up from the springs inside the mountain. The seabed was also among those with the richest biodiversity in all of Greece, and shellfish, seafood and fish were readily available on the table of every worker in Elefsina.

From the 1970s onwards, one topic that reappeared in protests by locals and the municipal authorities was the pollution load that was discharged into the sea by Chalyvourgiki, PETROLA, and the refinery plants at Aspropyrgos. "Toxic minerals range from 20 to 200 times higher than the maximum limits allowed for fishing. The level of dissolved oxygen in the seawater is permanently below the minimum limits for aerobic processes and the survival of fish. Each month, there are 1 to 3 incidents of sea pollution on average by petroleum products. Mass deaths of fish are frequent incidents."
Newspaper RIZOSPASTIS, 14/11/1981

Another main point of concern for the everyday life and the environmental protests in Elefsina which was also linked to sea pollution was the management of factory waste.

The sensation of the air, the sea, and the city, that is, the atmosphere of Elefsina itself, was an issue that motivated citizen groups, as well as people involved in social affairs over the next decades. Greenpeace rallies at PETROLA, protest concerts against its expansion, along with wider civil movements, such as Ecoeleusis, were not merely milestones in the history of the city’s struggles; they were also stories of sensations, which composed an image of Elefsina’s urban atmosphere in each period.

Partial deindustrialization combined with local struggles achieved a cleansing of the air, water, and the city itself, although it did not eliminate pollution for good. According to recent research findings, a number of industries in the area remain the main culprits of pollution in Elefsina, as well as the entire country.

According to data from the European Environmental Agency, the plants of the Public Power Corporation (DEI in Greek), the refineries of MOTOR OIL and Hellenic Petroleum, and the factories of TITAN, LAFARGE, and TERNA were the main industrial facilities that polluted the atmosphere in Greece during the years 2007-2022.

SOLOMON 24/05/2024