EcoLur
Lori Region is a leader among the regions of Armenia in the amount of atmospheric emissions. According to the data for 2016, 51231.5 tons of harmful substances were emitted into atmosphere from the immobile sources of emission in Lori, out of which no percent has been extracted. In total, the amount of substances emitted into the atmoshere from immobile sources in 2016 in Armenia made up 131.8 thousand tons, out of which 33.8% was trapped. Sulfur dioxide has made up 29.4% or 38.7 thousand tons out of all harmful substances emitted into the atmopshere. In Lori the air basin is polluted with sulfur dioxide by Alaverdi Copper Smelting Plant, which is operated by ACP, as part of Vallex Company Group. In 2005-2007, the company experimentally operated a gas neutralization experiment station, nevertheless, this option has been considered by the company as non-expedient both in eceonomic and environmental terms. The company has refused from receiving sulfuric acid considering it to be economically non-feasible. As a solution to this problem, the company has moved the chimney of Alaverdi Copper Smelting Plant from the absolute height of 780 me to the absolute height of 1078 m, which resulted in increasing the radius of polluting the air basin with sulfur dioxide spreading in the surrounding forests and villages in Odzun, Hagvi, Aqori and Haghpat. 'I am concerned with the fact that Alaver Copper Smelting Plant continues traditionally ensuring high levels of pollution. Alaver Copper Smelting Plant keeps on tellung us they don't work with profit or work with zero profit. Anyway, they should think about working with new technologies trying to pollute the environment as little as possible, particularly the air basin. We agree not to receive any environmental fee so as not to have such levels of atmospheric pollution. Bee families suffer, nature suffers, and, most importantly, people suffer. The environmental fee is low as compared with the damage caused,' Odzun Community Deputy Head Armine Mikayleyan said in her interview with EcoLur. It should be mentioned that according to the US Disease Control and Prevention Centers, sulfur dioxide is one of the factors, which may lead to the death of the fetus, early childbirth, miscarriage and still-born babies.
The pollution of the atmospheric air with sulfur dioxide affects also the Debed River, as it has been found out by by Senior Researcher of Institute of Geological Sciences of NAS RA Marine Nalbandyan, an expert at ICP Waters International Cooperative Programme, as a result of her research.
May 25, 2018 at 14:26