River runs purple, contaminates Greek town. Reuters, Dec.5, 2007. The river started turning purple 10 years ago, but the people in the small Greek town of Oinofyta who were losing loved ones to cancer never thought of blaming the water.Factories have been dumping waste in the Asopos River for decades and nearby tourist beaches were declared unfit for swimming, but there were no official warnings to the people of the town, in an industrial zone about 60 km (35 miles) north of Athens.[ See ]