The Supreme Court’s ruling on Friday ordered Heracles’ General Cement Company to pay 26 residents of the small village of Agia Marina in Halkida the sum of 3,000 euros per person as compensation for the pollution caused by the factory. The total worth of the compensation package is 78,000 euros that is being paid to the villagers for moral damages.

The cement factory failed to comply with environmental terms in its operations and refused to take measures for the proper maintenance and modernization of its facilities near the village. As a result, the villagers state that all outdoor areas were covered in a layer of cement dust that was up to 1.2 cm thick. The beach and the sea were also covered in this dust.

Village residents had originally sued for 44,020 euros in compensation damages per person, however the court awarded lower sums even though it agreed that the company’s omissions had fully justified the people’s claims to being deprived of environmental benefits.