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MINE TAILINGS POLLUTING DZORAGET RIVER, LOCAL POLITICIAN ASSERTS
epress.am
01.18.2012
Residents of the northern Armenian city of Stepanavan recently alerted
the Green Party of Armenia that the condition of the Dzoraget River
near their city is deteriorating day by day.
Environmentalists point out that the ecological threat to Dzoraget
River is nothing new: the river has been polluted for years as a
result of open-pit mining by Sagamar CJSC for gold deposits.The mine,
as well as the Sagamar Ore Processing Plant, is located very close
to residential areas.
For several years, residents have been raising the issue of publicly
monitoring the company's activities, but each time Sagamar refuses.
Green Party leader Armenak Dovlatyan told Epress.am after they received
the call, his party asked the Aarhus Center in Stepanavan to conduct
field studies of the mine. Though the specialists weren't allowed entry
to the mining site, studies conducted off-site, Dovlatyan asserted,
proved that tailings from the mine are flowing into the river.
"During this entire time the Ministry of Nature Protection is not
responding to our concerns, despite the fact that it has an obligation
to implement the Aarhus Convention in Armenia, as well as to directly
cooperate with the Network of Aarhus Centers. Information and warnings
on Sagamar's activities have been published repeatedly by Aarhus
Centers on their site www.aarhus.am," he added.
Following concerns raised by the Green Party and Aarhus Center, Ecolor
Informational NGO also appealed to the Nature Protection Ministry,
asking the state body to respond to the alarms, to conduct inspections
in the company and to subsequently make its findings public. The local
environmental NGO is also asking the ministry to include members of
the public and local residents in its inspections.
epress.am
01.18.2012
Residents of the northern Armenian city of Stepanavan recently alerted
the Green Party of Armenia that the condition of the Dzoraget River
near their city is deteriorating day by day.
Environmentalists point out that the ecological threat to Dzoraget
River is nothing new: the river has been polluted for years as a
result of open-pit mining by Sagamar CJSC for gold deposits.The mine,
as well as the Sagamar Ore Processing Plant, is located very close
to residential areas.
For several years, residents have been raising the issue of publicly
monitoring the company's activities, but each time Sagamar refuses.
Green Party leader Armenak Dovlatyan told Epress.am after they received
the call, his party asked the Aarhus Center in Stepanavan to conduct
field studies of the mine. Though the specialists weren't allowed entry
to the mining site, studies conducted off-site, Dovlatyan asserted,
proved that tailings from the mine are flowing into the river.
"During this entire time the Ministry of Nature Protection is not
responding to our concerns, despite the fact that it has an obligation
to implement the Aarhus Convention in Armenia, as well as to directly
cooperate with the Network of Aarhus Centers. Information and warnings
on Sagamar's activities have been published repeatedly by Aarhus
Centers on their site www.aarhus.am," he added.
Following concerns raised by the Green Party and Aarhus Center, Ecolor
Informational NGO also appealed to the Nature Protection Ministry,
asking the state body to respond to the alarms, to conduct inspections
in the company and to subsequently make its findings public. The local
environmental NGO is also asking the ministry to include members of
the public and local residents in its inspections.