Yerevan City residents expressed their opposition to the arguments of the representatives of "Copper" LLC on the plan to build a smelter in Avan administrative district and refused to listen to the arguments of the representatives. They expressed their position on July 28, 2022 during the second public hearing of the Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) application for the smelter initiated by the company.
Garik Badalyan, a member of the condominium management board of the district, spoke on behalf of the residents of Tsarav Aghbyur district, who will be affected with the operations. "You're talking to 5,000 people now, not one. I am authorized to present the opinion of those 5,000 residents who are against the construction of such a smelter near their neighborhood," he said. The latter responded to the observation of the company representative that the emissions will be within the permissible limits. "There is no permissible limit to poisoning my child."
The residents opposing the construction of the smelter noted that during the previous hearings, they suggested to the company's representatives to look for a new location for their activities, which would be far from residential areas. "What prevents you from selling that area and finding it at a cheaper price 20 km away from Yerevan?" the residents asked?
At the end of the hearings, Head of Environmental Protection Department of Yerevan Municipality Staff, Gevorg Nazaryan, said that the minutes will be drawn up regarding the hearings and it will be noted that the residents are against it, comments will be presented, including those of the municipality.
July 28, 2022 at 16:44