ArmInfo
Ecologists are going to raise the issue of a new repository for nuclear and other chemical waste at the level of three ministries. To recall, the exploration near the villages of Zangakatun and Urtsalanj to choose the place for the repository has raised a real wave of protest among the local residents. The drilling operations in the administrative lands of Zangakatun were launched in April without warning the residents and the rural administration. As a result, the villagers cordoned off the road and drove the drillers out of their territory.
The Yerevan Sate University's Prospecting Center, which carries out the exploration, states that the repository will be situated in the areas inapplicable for agricultural work and cattle grazing, while the villagers say that the chosen place is in the center of plough lands of the community. Moreover, the water pipelines of irrigation system of three villages – Paruyr Sevak, Tigranashen and Yerakhas are only 200 meters away from the exploration place.
Head of EcoLur NGO Inga Zarafyan said at today's debates at the Aarhus Center that the work for choice of the place for the new repository is being carried out in accordance with the governmental decision dated 23 July 2009. At the same time, not a single document points out precisely what waste and from what enterprises is to be buried in the repository. It is noteworthy that according to the standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, these data are to be known at the stage of choice of the territories applicable for the waste repository. However, neither the Yerevan State University's Prospecting Center, which is carrying out the exploration, nor the Armenian Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, which is the contractor, possesses precise information about the waste the repository is meant for.
Zarafyan doubts that the decision implies medical, laboratory or chemical waste. "One thing is clear - we are dealing with a vicious cycle of governmental decisions. Still, it remains unclear why the Government has decided to create this repository and what is supposed to be buried there," Zarafyan said noting that no public hearings have been held in the village of Zangakatun, which is contrary to Aarhus Convention.
"We are going to demand that the ministries of energy and natural resources, health care and environment protection specify the grounds of this decision and explain what this site is designed for," Zarafyan said.
June 09, 2010