EcoLur
The Chinese party which intends to develop Hrazdan iron mine may find themselves in a very hard situation. “Obviously the Chinese company is not well aware of the situation with permitting documentation in Hrazdan mine, which are vulnerable in legal sense,” said Srbuhi Harutyunyan, Chairman of Environmental-Social Association.
Reminder: Chinese Fortune oil Company obtained the assets of three iron mines in Armenia for further development, including the assets of “Nagin” Company owning Hrazdan iron mine.
Under S. Harutyunyan, in 2009 the project submitted by Nagin Company underwent environmental impact expert assessment and violations of Articles 6, 8 and 10 of the Aarhus Convention were detected in regard with awareness and public participation. Signatures were collected against “Nagin” Company in Hrazdan. Srbuhi Harutyunyan also pointed out the opinion of the State Environmental Inspection of Nature Protection Ministry of Armenia, which was undersigned only by specialists, while Minister Aram Harutyunyan’s signature is missing. Moreover, the opinion only lays down physical and mechanical components, but risks and their minimizing measures are missing. Consequently, this opinion contradicts with the requirement of Articles 2, 3 and 5 of RA Law “On Environmental Impact Expert Assessment”.
Photo by Ani Matevosyan
April 11, 2011