EcoLur
On 21 January, at 12:00, the public hearings on the EIA of Shorzha Troctolite and Peridotite mine will be held at Shorzha Rural Municipality. The project has been submitted for expertise by 'Gegamet Plus' Company.
Under the project, Shorzha Troctolite and Peridotite mine is located in the area of Tchambarak Village, Gegharkounik Region, which occupies an area of 2.65 ha. The mine has potential balance reserved to produce cement material. The mine is planned to be developed for 37 years, nevertheless, the project doesn't mention the risks existing for environment and particularly Lake Sevan:
· The project doesn't say how far the mine is located from Lake Sevan and 'Sevan National Park' in general and to what extent the lake will be polluted with the dust generated during mining.
· The project says that the project-area rivers Drakhtik, Pambak, Tsapatagh and Daranak rivers belong to the Lake Sevan basin, which are usually low-water. It's planned to take technical water from these rivers, but the project deoesn't specify how much water will be taken daily and from which river. The risk whether the low-water river won't get dry because of technical water intakes and the ecosysem of Lake Sevan basin is not violated, is not assessed.
· The project doesn't say where the ore will be processed, nevertheless, Appendix 4 of the project says, 'The transportation of the natural resource is planned to be carried out to the crushing plant in a distance of 3 km.' It means the start of ore processing, and if the crushing plant is located in Lake Sevan drainage basin, its operation will violated Article 10(2) of RA Law 'On Lake Sevan'.
· Reminder: in 2012 'Gegamet Plus' Company submitted for the environmental expertise Shorzha magnesium and silicate and chromite ore mining project in area of 120 ha next to Lake Sevan, which didn't mention anything about the threats and risks posing to Lake Sevan. In May 2013 the Nature Protection Ministry issued a negative opinion to this project.
January 20, 2015 at 18:10