Research on Chemical Pollution in Lori Presented in Impacted Community

Research on Chemical Pollution in Lori Presented in Impacted Community

The miners, residents of the affected communities, representatives of the community and regional authorities spoke about the effects of the mining industry in the newly built Green Camp eco-rural and civil society tourism center located in the village of Pokr Ayrum, Akhtala Community, Lori Region.

Representative of Czech "Arnika" Chemical Safety NGO Valeriya Grechko presented the study on "Mapping of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants in mining areas Tumanyan and Stepanavan areas" conducted in 2018-2021 implemented by Czech-based “Arnika” Organization, “Center for Community Mobilization and Support” and EcoLur Informational NGOs, particularly the information on the impact of heavy metals on the human organism and the environment.

The most worrying results of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants were recorded in Alaverdi and Akhtala Towns. High levels of dioxins were found in chicken eggs sampled in Alaverdi. "People who live here are regularly exposed to carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic substances, which can affect people's health in different ways," Valeriya Grechko said.

"The meeting was very important because we learned about the harmful substances that exist around us,"  Anahit Nalbandyan, a family doctor in the enlarged community of Odzun, expressed her opinion. She added that this is the first time she hears such a comprehensive analysis. "Maybe we will already start analyzing whether the diseases we have at the moment are related to it or not. But at the moment we do not have clear statistics."

"No community leader or resident wants to be surrounded by such waste, but in any case, we must try to reduce the risk," Arkady Tamazyan, head of enlarged Akhtala community said. Under Community Head, today the local self-governments do not play a big role in solving the ecological problems.

"Meanwhile, it is very possible that at the local level, local governments will have a socio-environmental policy, which will be able to address environmental problems, normalize relations with mining companies," Oleg Dulgaryan said, President of Center for Community Mobilization and Support NGO.

"As we are residents of the affected community, we are interested in the future of our village, our children, we want to keep our children in Teghut rather than emigrate. It is difficult to achieve results, because since the time of the previous government, the system has been designed in such a way that a person is dependent on a mining company. Let me specifically mention that the land of the people of Teghut was taken away as a public eminent domain, people were left without jobs, when you approach and say how this person lives, no one can answer that,” Teghut resident Martin Shakhkyan said.

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December 17, 2021 at 11:54