In their open letter, a number of civil society representatives appeal to RA state authorities with the demand to ensure the safety of the residents of Yerevan and neighboring settlements as a result of the fire at Nubarashen landfill site.
The open letter can be read below:
First Deputy Mayor of Yerevan, Acting Mayor Mr. Levon Hovhannisyan
RA Minister of Environment
Mr. Hakob Simidyan
Minister of RA Territorial Administration and Infrastructures
Mr. Gnel Sanosyan
RA Minister of Emergency Situations
Mr. Armen Pambukhchyan
RA Minister of Health
Mrs. Anahit Avanesyan
RA Minister of Internal Affairs Mr. Vahe Ghazaryan
Head of RA Environmental Protection and Mining Inspection Body
Mr. Hovhannes Martirosyan
24 May, 2023
Competent authorities, take responsibility for ensuring the safety of the residents of Yerevan and neighboring settlements following the fire at Nubarashen site.
As a result of the fire at Nubarashen landfill site, the capital Yerevan and nearby settlements are in an environmental and health disaster. We call upon the city authorities of Yerevan and RA Ministries of Emergency Situations, Health Care, Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Environment, Internal Affairs, Environmental Protection and Mining Inspection Body to urgently take all measures to ensure the safety of the residents affected by the fire at Nubarashen landfill site. As it is known, the fire broke out on May 18, and as of May 24, the fire could not be extinguished. Moreover, the fire started to spread and the smoke reached Yerevan downtown.
The relevant structures are silent. None of the responsible departments mentions the reasons for the outbreak of such a large-scale fire. One of the hypotheses is the accumulation of a large amount of methane in the landfill, which is caused by the slow burning of waste. These hearths can easily ignite and contribute to the spread of fire.
There is no information on the actual composition of the emissions, which can be extremely toxic to humans, as they contain not only compounds typical of waste burning, such as nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, but also other toxic compounds typical of old landfills where large amounts of waste are stored. In addition to dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, their list may include sulfur, lead, mercury, arsenic and furans.
In this continuous dangerous situation, the population of the houses adjacent to the landfill was not evacuated, the children were not isolated. There is no press release about who and at what time should take urgent measures to protect against emissions, and in general what these preventive-protective measures are according to the impact zones, and whether any investigation has been initiated.
We propose to establish an interdepartmental working group with the direct participation of the heads of the above-mentioned responsible authorized bodies in order to initiate emergency measures to extinguish the fire immediately, as well as to ensure the safety of the population and provide complete necessary information that will help reduce the risks to people's health. In the next steps, it is necessary to develop steps to avoid such outbreaks in the future, as well as to assess the impact of the above-mentioned dangerous substances in the drainage waters flowing out from the landfill and to mitigate the risks of subsoil water contamination by them.
1. "EcoLur" Informational NGO
2. Armenian Environmental Protection Front Volunteer Initiative
3. Silva Adamyan, "Ecological Public Union" NGO
4. Oleg Dulgaryan, President of "Center for Community Mobilization and Support" NGO
5. "For Equal rights" Educational Center NGO
6. Astghine Pasoyan, Director of Energy Saving Support Fund
7. Ruzanna Ghazaryan, "Dalma-Sona" Educational-cultural, Social-environmental Fund
8. Samvel Pipoyan, Co-Chair of "Professional Educational Reforms" NGO
9. Zaruhi Hovhannisyan, Human Rights Defender
10. "Epicenter" NGO
11. Nune Sakanyan, President of "Women in Climate and Energy" NGO
12. "Innovation and Technology Community" NGO
13. Lianna Asoyan, President of "Blejan" Environmental, social, business support NGO
14. Hripsime Petrosyan, Chair of "Effective Management and Community Development" NGO
15. Anahit Bakhshyan
16. "Forests of Armenia" NGO
17. "Green Armenia" NGO
18. "Center for Public Awareness and Monitoring" NGO
19. Dskhuhi Sahakyan
20. “FIID" Ecological Education and Design Fund
21. "Galar Vazer" LLC
22. Gevorg Petrosyan, President of "Biosofia" NGO
23. Manya Melikjanyan, President of "Lore" Eco-Club" NGO
24. Hripsime Mkrtchyan, "Eco Aghb" environmental NGO
25. Qnarik Grigoryan, "Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment" NGO
May 24, 2023 at 14:05