identified as sensitive. among those were the lower part of the saronic gulf and the gulf of thessaloniki. in 2002 the greek authorities designated the thessaloniki gulf and the lower part of the saronic gulf as sensitive. the latter receives athens' wastewater. according to the greek authorities 17 agglomerations discharge into these sensitive areas. according to the european commission, in 2002 (no more recent information from the ec is available) the towns of elefsina aspropyrgos, grevena, kilkis and theva discharged their wastewater in sensitive areas without any treatment. other towns such as arta and serres had wastewater treatment plants without phosphorus removal. the latter is required to prevent eutrophication of sensitive water bodies. furthermore, some existing wastewater treatment plants do not function properly. in 2002 only 2 of the wastewater treatment plants discharging in sensitive areas achieved the treatment efficiency required by the eu directive. concerning cities discharging into areas that were not declared as sensitive, as of 2002, greece achieved a low compliance rate: it provided secondary treatment for less than 50% of the concerned waste water load.