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MINISTRY INACTION: TOXIC TAILINGS CONTINUE TO FLOW INTO AKHTALA'S DEBED RIVER
Larisa Paremuzyan
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/19855/ministry-inaction-toxic-tailings-continue-to-flow-into-akhtala's-debed-river.html
14:39, October 25, 2012
One month after Hetq reported that toxic tailings from the Akhtala
Mining Enrichment Combine's Tchotchkan tailing dam were freely flowing
into the Akhtala River, nothing has been done either by the state
government or the company to halt the lethal discharge.
This reporter and Alaverdi Aarhaus Center Coordinator Anoush Evoyan
returned to site on October 24 and saw that the company had taken no
measures to repair the tailings dam's re-circulatory system.
The toxic sludge was flowing into the river at the same rate as during
our first visit.
Given that Armenia's Ministries of Environmental Protection
and Emergency Affairs continue to turn a blind eye to the issue,
the mining company is in no hurry to repair the non-functioning
re-circulatory system.
This malfeasance is in direct contradiction to the pronouncement made
to Hetq on September 23 that the company had drafted an extensive
environmental program that would include repairing the damaged pipes.
Hetq asked for clarifications from the Lori branch of the State
Environmental Inspectorate. Today, Director of the Inspectorate Armen
Laplajyan informed us by telephone that office staffers visited
the company after our series of articles and were told that the
re-circulatory system was working.
We told Laplajyan that we'd be willing to escort his staffers to the
tailing dam in order that they see the toxic flow for themselves. He
did not respond to our request.
Such indifference begs the question why so much taxpayer money is
going to finance a ministry whose inspectors aren't doing the job
they are tasked with?
P.S. Yesterday, we took the above photo of saplings planted by the
Akhtala Enrichment Combine at the re-cultivated tailings dam in
the vicinity of the St. Mariam Astvatzatzin Church. The dried out
saplings are eerie evidence of the crimes being committed against the
environment. This tailings dam, set at a pitched location right above
the Akhtala River, can easily be swept away by the waterway swollen
by the spring melt or heavy rains.
Larisa Paremuzyan
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/19855/ministry-inaction-toxic-tailings-continue-to-flow-into-akhtala's-debed-river.html
14:39, October 25, 2012
One month after Hetq reported that toxic tailings from the Akhtala
Mining Enrichment Combine's Tchotchkan tailing dam were freely flowing
into the Akhtala River, nothing has been done either by the state
government or the company to halt the lethal discharge.
This reporter and Alaverdi Aarhaus Center Coordinator Anoush Evoyan
returned to site on October 24 and saw that the company had taken no
measures to repair the tailings dam's re-circulatory system.
The toxic sludge was flowing into the river at the same rate as during
our first visit.
Given that Armenia's Ministries of Environmental Protection
and Emergency Affairs continue to turn a blind eye to the issue,
the mining company is in no hurry to repair the non-functioning
re-circulatory system.
This malfeasance is in direct contradiction to the pronouncement made
to Hetq on September 23 that the company had drafted an extensive
environmental program that would include repairing the damaged pipes.
Hetq asked for clarifications from the Lori branch of the State
Environmental Inspectorate. Today, Director of the Inspectorate Armen
Laplajyan informed us by telephone that office staffers visited
the company after our series of articles and were told that the
re-circulatory system was working.
We told Laplajyan that we'd be willing to escort his staffers to the
tailing dam in order that they see the toxic flow for themselves. He
did not respond to our request.
Such indifference begs the question why so much taxpayer money is
going to finance a ministry whose inspectors aren't doing the job
they are tasked with?
P.S. Yesterday, we took the above photo of saplings planted by the
Akhtala Enrichment Combine at the re-cultivated tailings dam in
the vicinity of the St. Mariam Astvatzatzin Church. The dried out
saplings are eerie evidence of the crimes being committed against the
environment. This tailings dam, set at a pitched location right above
the Akhtala River, can easily be swept away by the waterway swollen
by the spring melt or heavy rains.