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COPPER CONTROVERSY HAUNTS ARMENIAN TOWN
Marianna Grigoryan
EurasiaNet
Jan 23 2008
NY
An increase in birth defects in the northern Armenian town of
Alaverdi has prompted a debate about the operations of one of the
town's largest employers, the Armenian Copper Program.
Located about 170 kilometers north of Yerevan inside a steep mountain
gorge, Alaverdi, with a population of about 22,000 people, could pass
as a poster town for post-Soviet industrial decline. Emissions from
a 100-meter-tall smokestack connected to the town's copper-smelting
plant often shrouds the town's rusting and ruined buildings, creating
a ghostly effect.
Established more than 200 years ago, the Alaverdi plant was once one
of the largest copper production facilities in the former Soviet Union,
with an annual output of 55,000 tons of copper.
That situation changed in 1988-1989, when the disintegration of the
Soviet Union and a growing Armenian environmental activism campaign
prompted the plant's closure. The Alaverdi plant was totally plundered
and expensive filters that synthesized emissions were sold on the
cheap. The town was left "an environmental disaster area," in the words
of Larisa Paremuzian, who served as Alaverdi's mayor from 1989 to 1991.
In 1996, the plant finally reopened, under the management of the
Armenian Copper Program, a company whose majority shareholder is the
Lichtenstein-registered Valex F.M. Establishment Company.
But it operated without filters and emissions of hazardous
materials began to soar. At the time of Alaverdi's closure, its
emissions of sulfuric anhydride -- a hazardous compound formed when
sulfur-containing copper concentrate is put into production -- exceeded
allowed norms by 7.2 times. By comparison, during the first ten months
of 2007 and in 2006, the plant released into the atmosphere 20 times
more sulfuric anhydride than is permitted under state regulations,
according to data compiled by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
In 2006, the government states, the plant also released into the
atmosphere 12 tons of arsenic, nearly 105 tons of dust, 41 tons of
zinc, and nearly 3 tons of lead, and 3 tons of copper, among other
hazardous elements.
It is a track record that raises official eyebrows, but has not
yet prompted a crackdown. "We have all the reasons for stopping the
plant's operations," Marzpet Kamalian, deputy head of the Environment
Ministry's State Inspections Department, told EurasiaNet. "However,
authorities do not let us do that, as there is a state policy that
the economy should develop. We could either shut down the plant's
operations, or allow the emissions to happen, and we chose the
second option."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and local hospitals state that the
Alaverdi area is experiencing an alarming frequency of birth defects
in newborns.
In 1992, when Alaverdi was not operating, the town did not record any
case of "natural birth deviations, development defects, deformations
and chromosomal disorders." By 2004, four years after resumption of
copper smelting, the incident rate had increased to 107, from 28 in
2001. Health ministry officials say that they are still completing
the statistics for more recent years.
Doctors at the maternity hospital in Alaverdi say that they have
dealt with anencephalia -- "a missing brain" -- many times in the
last decade. Hydrocephalia (an excessive amount of water in the
brain), spinal hernias, two-headed fetuses and other defects have
also occurred, said maternity hospital director Amalia Azatian.
Such defects can be caused by genetics, as well as hazardous
pollutants, noted Azatian, who declined to draw conclusions from
the cases.
Respiratory problems -- often associated with high concentrations of
sulfur -- have become more frequent, too, more than doubling in recent
years. In 2005, the health ministry recorded 121 cases of respiratory
diseases among Alaverdi adults; by 2007, that number had reached 295.
Environmental activists are up in arms over Alaverdi, but say that
their hands are tied. Union of Greens Chairman Hakob Sanasarian calls
the town "a gas chamber."
"It is already about 10 years that the plant has operated without
filters and the emitted poisons immediately affect humans," Sanasarian
said. "It looks like a conspiracy against man and nature by the
government and the plant."
Armenian Copper Program company director Gagik Arzumanian, however,
categorically rejects that view.
"We are always looking for and trying to conduct research to find
a rational option [to continue operations and to minimize the
environmental impact], "Arzumanian said during an October 2007
interview with EurasiaNet.
In the late 1990s, when Alaverdi resumed operations, "our production
volumes were not so large as to enable us to install filters," he
added. Filter costs -- broadly estimated in the millions of dollars
-- are still exorbitant given Alaverdi's output, he claimed. As of
2007, the plant's annual copper production stood at 7,000-8,000 tons,
according to company figures -- a sliver of its Soviet-era output.
Government officials do not blame the Alaverdi plant for the birth
defect rate, but stress the need for "extensive" investigation into
the causes. For now, though, the Health Ministry does not have the
"large funding" required for such research, according to Mother and
Child Department Head Karine Saribekian.
One toxicologist, however, maintains that there is a direct link
between the Alaverdi emissions and recorded birth defects. Emil Babaian
is head of the industrial toxicology lab at the General Hygiene and
Occupational Diseases Scientific Research Institute in Yerevan and
has conducted studies in Alaverdi and other "problematic" Armenian
industrial towns.
Annual studies conducted by the institute put Alaverdi kindergartners'
cognitive development at "7 to 10 points behind the norm," Babaian
said. "And the emitted poisonous elements are greatly at fault for
all this."
Armenian Copper Program Director Arzumanian states that he recognizes
the extent of the problem. "I agree that the situation in Alaverdi
is not auspicious for health. However, I cannot say that the problems
exist only because of the plant's emissions. An increase in diseases
can be registered in all areas [of Armenia]," he said.
By 2009, Arzumanian said, the plant will try to find a solution that
will strive to meet both environmental and economic concerns. A
government-ordered 10-percent reduction in emissions by January
2008 has not yet taken place, he conceded. An additional 80 percent
reduction is slotted for 2009.
Environmental activist Paremuzian says it is unlikely the plant will
meet that target. "The situation goes from bad to worse from year to
year," she said in an October 2007 interview. "According to previous
promises, the filters should have already been installed. However,
nothing has been done so far."
State Environmental Inspections Department Deputy Head Marzpet Kamalian
stresses that Alaverdi still has until 2009 to bring its operations
into compliance with emission regulations.
Despite the current emphasis on economic development, "[i]f it fails
to meet the requirements within the period, we will impose strict
sanctions on it, such as big fines and even going so far as shutting
down the plant," Kamalian said.
Arzumanian states that if hefty fines are imposed and filters cannot
be purchased, the Alaverdi plant may "temporarily suspend" its work.
"Our activities will not be financially justified," he said. Instead,
he said, the company would concentrate on operations at Teghut,
thousands of hectares of woodland in the northern Lori region that
the Armenian Copper Program intends to clear for mining of large
copper reserves.
That threat resonates with Alaverdi residents. The plant employs some
700 people, and is one of the town's largest sources for jobs.
"If the plant is closed, Alaverdi will be turned into a large village,"
predicted Alaverdi Mayor Artur Nalbandian, adding that consideration
is also given to the environmental issues. "[W]e would have to choose
the old option [having a job despite environmental pollution] again."
For now, Alaverdi residents say that they are still waiting for a
sign of any other option.
Editor's Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for the Armenianow.com
weekly in Yerevan. Karen Minasyan is a photographer based also
in Yerevan.
Marianna Grigoryan
EurasiaNet
Jan 23 2008
NY
An increase in birth defects in the northern Armenian town of
Alaverdi has prompted a debate about the operations of one of the
town's largest employers, the Armenian Copper Program.
Located about 170 kilometers north of Yerevan inside a steep mountain
gorge, Alaverdi, with a population of about 22,000 people, could pass
as a poster town for post-Soviet industrial decline. Emissions from
a 100-meter-tall smokestack connected to the town's copper-smelting
plant often shrouds the town's rusting and ruined buildings, creating
a ghostly effect.
Established more than 200 years ago, the Alaverdi plant was once one
of the largest copper production facilities in the former Soviet Union,
with an annual output of 55,000 tons of copper.
That situation changed in 1988-1989, when the disintegration of the
Soviet Union and a growing Armenian environmental activism campaign
prompted the plant's closure. The Alaverdi plant was totally plundered
and expensive filters that synthesized emissions were sold on the
cheap. The town was left "an environmental disaster area," in the words
of Larisa Paremuzian, who served as Alaverdi's mayor from 1989 to 1991.
In 1996, the plant finally reopened, under the management of the
Armenian Copper Program, a company whose majority shareholder is the
Lichtenstein-registered Valex F.M. Establishment Company.
But it operated without filters and emissions of hazardous
materials began to soar. At the time of Alaverdi's closure, its
emissions of sulfuric anhydride -- a hazardous compound formed when
sulfur-containing copper concentrate is put into production -- exceeded
allowed norms by 7.2 times. By comparison, during the first ten months
of 2007 and in 2006, the plant released into the atmosphere 20 times
more sulfuric anhydride than is permitted under state regulations,
according to data compiled by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
In 2006, the government states, the plant also released into the
atmosphere 12 tons of arsenic, nearly 105 tons of dust, 41 tons of
zinc, and nearly 3 tons of lead, and 3 tons of copper, among other
hazardous elements.
It is a track record that raises official eyebrows, but has not
yet prompted a crackdown. "We have all the reasons for stopping the
plant's operations," Marzpet Kamalian, deputy head of the Environment
Ministry's State Inspections Department, told EurasiaNet. "However,
authorities do not let us do that, as there is a state policy that
the economy should develop. We could either shut down the plant's
operations, or allow the emissions to happen, and we chose the
second option."
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and local hospitals state that the
Alaverdi area is experiencing an alarming frequency of birth defects
in newborns.
In 1992, when Alaverdi was not operating, the town did not record any
case of "natural birth deviations, development defects, deformations
and chromosomal disorders." By 2004, four years after resumption of
copper smelting, the incident rate had increased to 107, from 28 in
2001. Health ministry officials say that they are still completing
the statistics for more recent years.
Doctors at the maternity hospital in Alaverdi say that they have
dealt with anencephalia -- "a missing brain" -- many times in the
last decade. Hydrocephalia (an excessive amount of water in the
brain), spinal hernias, two-headed fetuses and other defects have
also occurred, said maternity hospital director Amalia Azatian.
Such defects can be caused by genetics, as well as hazardous
pollutants, noted Azatian, who declined to draw conclusions from
the cases.
Respiratory problems -- often associated with high concentrations of
sulfur -- have become more frequent, too, more than doubling in recent
years. In 2005, the health ministry recorded 121 cases of respiratory
diseases among Alaverdi adults; by 2007, that number had reached 295.
Environmental activists are up in arms over Alaverdi, but say that
their hands are tied. Union of Greens Chairman Hakob Sanasarian calls
the town "a gas chamber."
"It is already about 10 years that the plant has operated without
filters and the emitted poisons immediately affect humans," Sanasarian
said. "It looks like a conspiracy against man and nature by the
government and the plant."
Armenian Copper Program company director Gagik Arzumanian, however,
categorically rejects that view.
"We are always looking for and trying to conduct research to find
a rational option [to continue operations and to minimize the
environmental impact], "Arzumanian said during an October 2007
interview with EurasiaNet.
In the late 1990s, when Alaverdi resumed operations, "our production
volumes were not so large as to enable us to install filters," he
added. Filter costs -- broadly estimated in the millions of dollars
-- are still exorbitant given Alaverdi's output, he claimed. As of
2007, the plant's annual copper production stood at 7,000-8,000 tons,
according to company figures -- a sliver of its Soviet-era output.
Government officials do not blame the Alaverdi plant for the birth
defect rate, but stress the need for "extensive" investigation into
the causes. For now, though, the Health Ministry does not have the
"large funding" required for such research, according to Mother and
Child Department Head Karine Saribekian.
One toxicologist, however, maintains that there is a direct link
between the Alaverdi emissions and recorded birth defects. Emil Babaian
is head of the industrial toxicology lab at the General Hygiene and
Occupational Diseases Scientific Research Institute in Yerevan and
has conducted studies in Alaverdi and other "problematic" Armenian
industrial towns.
Annual studies conducted by the institute put Alaverdi kindergartners'
cognitive development at "7 to 10 points behind the norm," Babaian
said. "And the emitted poisonous elements are greatly at fault for
all this."
Armenian Copper Program Director Arzumanian states that he recognizes
the extent of the problem. "I agree that the situation in Alaverdi
is not auspicious for health. However, I cannot say that the problems
exist only because of the plant's emissions. An increase in diseases
can be registered in all areas [of Armenia]," he said.
By 2009, Arzumanian said, the plant will try to find a solution that
will strive to meet both environmental and economic concerns. A
government-ordered 10-percent reduction in emissions by January
2008 has not yet taken place, he conceded. An additional 80 percent
reduction is slotted for 2009.
Environmental activist Paremuzian says it is unlikely the plant will
meet that target. "The situation goes from bad to worse from year to
year," she said in an October 2007 interview. "According to previous
promises, the filters should have already been installed. However,
nothing has been done so far."
State Environmental Inspections Department Deputy Head Marzpet Kamalian
stresses that Alaverdi still has until 2009 to bring its operations
into compliance with emission regulations.
Despite the current emphasis on economic development, "[i]f it fails
to meet the requirements within the period, we will impose strict
sanctions on it, such as big fines and even going so far as shutting
down the plant," Kamalian said.
Arzumanian states that if hefty fines are imposed and filters cannot
be purchased, the Alaverdi plant may "temporarily suspend" its work.
"Our activities will not be financially justified," he said. Instead,
he said, the company would concentrate on operations at Teghut,
thousands of hectares of woodland in the northern Lori region that
the Armenian Copper Program intends to clear for mining of large
copper reserves.
That threat resonates with Alaverdi residents. The plant employs some
700 people, and is one of the town's largest sources for jobs.
"If the plant is closed, Alaverdi will be turned into a large village,"
predicted Alaverdi Mayor Artur Nalbandian, adding that consideration
is also given to the environmental issues. "[W]e would have to choose
the old option [having a job despite environmental pollution] again."
For now, Alaverdi residents say that they are still waiting for a
sign of any other option.
Editor's Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for the Armenianow.com
weekly in Yerevan. Karen Minasyan is a photographer based also
in Yerevan.