EcoLur
The Akhtala River has got polluted again, as Oleg Dulgaryan, Director of Community Mobilizaton and Support Center NGO, is beating an alarm signal. He posted a video and photos on his Facebook page showing the yellow-brown stream flowing into the Akhtala River and then the Debed River.
The Akhtala River flows through the Shamlugh copper mine. The mine is operated by "Akhtala Ore Processing Plant" CJSC.
In his conversation with EcoLur, Gagik Shahnazaryan, Head of Foreign Affairs at "Akhtala Ore Processing Plant" CJSC, mentioned that the factory has not been working for several days. According to him, the tails are not the cause of the river pollution. "Construction works are being carried out in Shamlugh mine. Soil works are being carried out for the construction of infrastructures, this brown soil is being dumped into the river. in an hour the water will disappear. This is the mine soil, which comes out together with the water and flows into the river. It is soil that has nothing to do with the mining industry. What can we do, let's say we want to fix the river bank, how can we do it?” he said. Dumping soil into the river also pollutes the river and damages its ecosystem.
Photo and Video Credit: Oleg Dulgaryan
June 01, 2020 at 10:11