Inga Zarafyan, EcoLur
The issue of security in pesticides mortuary in the suburbs of Yerevan, near Vokhchaberd village, is not solved, yet it has become more serious. As Lilit Simonyan and Qnarik Grigoryan revealed, experts of “Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment” NGO, the state of the mortuary poses serious threat to population health and environment. The experts examined the mortuary territory late in May this year and recorded that mortuary had been dug up, and most probably, with machines. Torn packages and bottles with various pesticides were revealed on the surface (see photo reportage).
“Pesticides are very hazardous compounds by themselves. Here, nevertheless, we don’t know what kinds of novel toxic compounds have been formed as a result of long-lasting storage and blending of pesticides. “It is also not known who and what for has dug up the mortuary, whose hands these pesticides has fallen into,” – Lilit Simonyan said. She called attention to one more threat: activization of landslip processes due to which mortuary shifts towards Yerevan.
A HIDDEN ECOLOGICAL DISASTER
Aghavni Yeghiazaryan, Edik Baghdasaryan, Hetq
05.03.2004
"The toxic-waste dump containing 500 metric tons of insecticide, located east of the Vardashen-Verin Jrashen neighborhood in the district of Erebuni, is on the verge of collapse," says geologist R. Yadoyan. Yadoyan, who heads the geo-ecological laboratory of the Institute of Geology of the National Academy of Science, has come to the conclusion that "the horticultural zones, and the zones of the Vardashen and Erebuni communities, are threatened with destruction." His studies show that the toxic-waste dump is situated in an area of active landslide. The fissures and depressions here provide visual confirmation. In addition to natural causes, Yadoyan stipulates that the activation of the landslide has been caused by the utilization of the decrepit water pipes-part of the Voghjaberd irrigation pipeline that supplies the Dzoraghbiur summer cottages-that pass through this territory. "The pipeline passes through the upper part of the insecticide dump, and in an emergency, the water flows into the dump. That's what happened a few years ago," an irrigation network employee tells us.
In 1972 the Soviet government outlawed the use of certain agricultural insecticides, and 500 metric tons of the prohibited substances were collected from villages and warehouses throughout Armenia . Among these were persistent organic pollutants that don't decompose for 30-40 years, and when they do, give rise to metabolites with the same toxic characteristics. In the 1970s, burial was considered the safest and most effective method of destroying insecticides. In 1982, by government decree, a concrete underground dump was built near the village of Bardzrashen in the Artashat region (today this territory lies within the limits of the Erebuni district of Yerevan). The dump was covered with clay to prevent the insecticides from seeping into the soil. "I was a child when they dug out a huge pit in the hillside, and then filled it up with bags of some toxic substance," Razmik from Jrashen recalls.
The insecticides were thrown into the pit and covered with earth. The territory had fence and a guardhouse. In previous years, inspections were carried out periodically to prevent seepage. Because of the gradual landslide, topsoil has built up over the dump, which is now on the verge of collapse. There have been no inspections for 15 years. There is no guardhouse, and the fence is destroyed. This dangerous territory is completely open. In recent years, land in the area has been allocated for gardening. Houses have been built and people are living here. Many of them are unaware that they live next-door to a toxic dump, and they use the land as pasture.
"In the human organism, any kind of persistent organic pollutants contribute to the development of malignant tumors. This is an emergency not only for those living in the neighborhood, since pollutants affect people through the air as well," says an employee of the Center for Control and Prevention of Epidemics, who didn't want to give us his name. Insecticides affect certain people's immune and nervous systems, causing lung and kidney problems. "Residents often get sick, mainly from nephritis, bronchitis, gout, and tuberculosis. In the summer, there are many cases of intestinal infections," says Zhanna Gevorgyan, a doctor for the Mushakan and Jrashen communities.
In the 1980s, Doctor Henrik Hambardzumyan investigated the impact of insecticides on human health. His comparative analysis showed that residents of villages where insecticides had been used died mainly because of malignant tumors and diseases of the nervous and respiratory systems. Children were born underweight and showed signs of slowness in school. His studies proved that the majority of diseases in all age groups were directly related to the quantity of insecticides used. His was the only such study in Armenia . "If the dump collapses, the insecticides will flow into the territory of the summer cottages and the Vardashen Gorge, and will reach the center of Yerevan . When it rains, that's the direction the muddy water flows. They could also flow in the Getar River to Artashat," conjectures Vazgen, a resident of Mushakan.
"When we saw prohibited insecticides in the store, we first thought that they had been taken from the dump. We later found out that the dump is closed, but is facing an emergency," says Lia Simonyan, a member of the NGO Armenian Women for Health and a Healthy Environment. Back in 2001, the organization wrote to the Ministries of Agriculture and Ecology and the Yerevan Mayor's Office, warning that the neglected state of the dump posed a threat to the environment. "We couldn't do anything else. We thought that the state agencies would begin to worry and would take appropriate measures," adds the NGO chairman, Yelena Manvelyan. The ministries just made inquiries about whom the territory belonged to and who was responsible. They found out that it lies within the limits of the Erebuni district, but since the collapse of the Soviet Union, it doesn't belong to any department. The mayor's office claims that they forwarded the letter to the Department for Emergency Situations (DES), but the head of the DES Division on Prevention and Liquidation of the After-Effects of Emergencies, Ludwig Nazaryan, denies receiving it. Nazaryan told us that they had learned of the problem from a December 2003 letter from the same NGO.
In 2003, Armenian Women for Health and a Healthy Environment recommenced the study of the toxic-waste dump. "We had Yadoyan's study at our disposal, and we tested the burial layer of soil within a 50-meter radius. We discovered that the concentration of insecticides in the soil is above the permissible limit. We again sent all this data to the ministries concerned and to the Department for Emergency Situations," says Lia Simonyan. After the DES received yet another letter, this time from the Association of Investigative Journalists, it carried out preliminary testing. According to the deputy head of the department, Wilhelm Stepanyan, test results show that the landslide is located in the central part of the dump, and will eventually be activated.
"We can't say anything definitive yet, since we have to do additional testing in the spring," Stepanyan says. After having received the opinions of two geologists stating that the dump is situated in the middle of a landslide, the DES writes in its letter to us, "There is no immediate threat to the site at present." A. Nazaryan, the head of the DES's Division of Technological Disasters assures us, "The underground dump cannot collapse since in the event of a landslide, it will sink further and will be covered by a wider layer of earth." Ludwig Nazaryan, also of the DES, believes that there is no need to take the studies on the presence of the insecticides in the soil seriously. "Seepage is impossible; there is no logic here," he explains. And the head of the Division of Technological Disasters argues that it is possible that some persistent insecticides that live for years were present before the toxic-waste dump was built.
"We have carried out only preliminary investigations over a short period of time. We should wait until spring to conduct serious studies," Ludwig Nazaryan says. But ecologists and doctors are of a different opinion - the toxic-waste dump may collapse at any moment and cause an ecological disaster.
"THERE ARE EMISSIONS FROM THE TOXIC-WASTE DUMP” INISTS ECOLOGISTS LILIK SIMONYAN
Aghavni Yegiazaryan, Hetq
05.04.2004
"Before a final solution is found, it is necessary to fence in the dump, to dig gutters and to study the body of the landslide. In order to carry all this out, we will need 10 million drams (about \\\\\\\$ 18,000)," says Ludwig Nazaryan, the head of the Division of Technological Disasters of the Department for Emergency Situations (DES). As we have already reported, a toxic-waste dump containing 500 metric tons of insecticide, located east of the Vardashen-Verin Jrashen neighborhood in the district of Erebuni, is situated in an area of active landslide. According to ecologists and scientists, it may collapse at any moment, causing an ecological disaster.
After receiving a letter from the Association of Investigative Journalists that warned that the neglected state of the dump posed a threat to the environment, the Department for Emergency Situations (DES) informed Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan of the problem. As a result, representatives of the Ministry of Ecology, the Ministry of Agriculture, the DES and the Yerevan Mayor's Office met to discuss the issue of how to deal with the situation in the dump. "We presented the government with our proposals. It's now up to them which proposal to accept and how to finance its implementation. After that the government will decide which agency and experts will be dealing with the matter," says Igor Sargisyan, the deputy head of the State Ecological Inspection. According to the prime minister's instructions, representatives of the NGO Armenian Women for Health and a Healthy Environment were to take part in the deliberations. But Lilik (Lia) Simonyan from this NGO was invited as a guest and was not given the opportunity to participate in the discussion. Her organization has been concerned with the problems related to the dump for several years. "We have a study showing that there are emissions from the toxic-waste dump. In other words, the site poses a threat to people's health. We must find an ecologically correct solution. Taking into consideration our country's means, we think that it is imperative that the international organizations intervene," Simonyan says.
In 2001 the Republic of Armenia signed the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, a global treaty to "protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs)". According to Article 6 of the Convention, the state-parties should take measures to identify stockpiles consisting of or containing chemicals listed in the annexes to the Convention, manage the stockpiles in a safe, efficient and environmentally sound manner, and eliminate or reduce the release of POPs into the environment. In implementing the Convention, governments of the developed countries agreed to provide timely and appropriate technical assistance and to promote the transfer of technology, as well as to provide, within their capabilities, financial support and incentives to developing countries and to countries with economies in transition.
Anahit Alexanyan, the head of the Department on Management of Wastes and Toxic Agents of the Ministry of Ecology is responsible for the fulfillment of the Convention's requirements. In a telephone interview she told us that a national program is being drafted by the ministry and that they are working on identifying all stockpiles in Armenia consisting of or containing the chemicals in question. We were unable to find out whether the toxic-waste dump in Erebuni, containing 500 metric tons of insecticide, has been identified within the framework of the Convention. Anahit Alexanian couldn't find the time to answer all our questions, saying that she was busy with other, more important and more pressing issues. It is worth mentioning that the government of Armenia has received a \\\\\\\$ 500,000 grant for drafting this national program. Anahit Alexanyan herself is managing the grant.
Although the DES has not studied the landslide and the state of the dump yet, Ludwig Nazaryan insists, "Nothing has happened for 20-25 years, so nothing will happen for another 20-25 year period. The landslide is far from the toxic-waste dump and will not reach the site." But the only person who has studied the site where 500 metric tons of insecticide are buried, the head of the geo-ecological laboratory of the Institute of Geology of the National Academy of Science, R. Yadoyan, insists that the dump is situated in an area of landslide and in the case of the slightest disturbance of the balance it will become active.
July 03, 2009