On November 26, Media Center launched a discussion on "Ecological Risks, Problems in Lori, Ararat, Syunik, Aragatsotn Regions, Need For Required Reforms in Armenia." The speakers of the discussion were Inga Zarafyan, President of "EcoLur" Informational NGO, Environmental Lawyer Nazeli Vardanyan, Director of "Forests of Armenia" NGO, and Oleg Dulgaryan, President of " Center for Community Mobilization and Support " NGO.
Inga Zarafyan noted that currently, the pollution has reached large volumes due to the increase in the volume and quantity of the mining industry. "We have about one billion tons of tails, which are collected in closed or unsealed tailing dumps. Every year, 20-25 million tons of tails are dumped in tailing dumps. At present, an area of 8000 hectares is under open-closed mines. If we add the areas that are not considered and are located under dumps and empty rocks, we understand that more than one percent of the territory of our country is polluted," she said.
According to Inga Zarafyan, mining companies do not take measures to reduce or mitigate those risks in parallel with environmental pollution and harm to public health. "Most companies do not fulfill their obligations. Even in the case of alarms, the fine imposed by the inspection body is disproportionate to the damage caused by the company. There can be a tail leak for several hours, there can be soil pollution, for which the fine of 300,000 AMD is a small thing for the company. If we do not change this situation, we will have a total of ten times more, rather than 10,000 hectares of damaged and not subject to restoration," she said.
Nazeli Vardanyan said, "On the one hand, we are experiencing a problem with the implementation of regulations in the legislation, on the other hand, there are no norms necessary for the regulation of the sphere. There is no expert examination on the spot, but the conclusion is given by the ministry on the basis of documents," she said.
Oleg Dulgaryan noted, "Local self-government bodies are socio-economically dependent on the mining company. we have no compensation mechanisms. But there must be state intervention. Civil society, in its turn, is ready to appeal to the international community to support the introduction of the necessary mechanisms for our state," he said.
Watch the details in the video.
November 29, 2021 at 13:20