On July 29, 2025, RA Ministry of Environment issued a negative conclusion on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report of the planned lubricant and bitumen production in the settlement of Yeghvard, Nairi community, Kotayk Region. The plant was intended to be operated by “ArmOil” CJSC.
The company planned to carry out the activity in an already developed 2.8 hectare industrial area.
The Ministry rejected the report submitted by “ArmOil” CJSC with the following expert justification:
“The problematic issue remains that the established norms of the sanitary-protection zone for the activity are not maintained – the nearest residential area is located at a distance of 140 m and a road at 73.86 m. Meanwhile, according to urban development norms in the field of chemical facilities and productions, for bitumen production a 1000 m sanitary-protection zone is required.
In the project and the EIA, the gaseous composition of the ‘vapors’ formed during oxidation processes is not given, nor is it stated how they will be collected, neutralized, or what will be done with the resulting water condensate. It is not specified what quantity, volume, and composition of water condensate will be generated, where it will be stored and where it will later be discharged or neutralized. The report also does not address hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), a toxic gas with a sharp odor produced during bitumen production, and no measures for its subsequent neutralization are mentioned.
According to the report, stormwaters are to be collected and, after mechanical cleaning, used for irrigation or other purposes. However, mechanical cleaning does not provide for the removal of hazardous chemical substances – in this case, petroleum product residues – from the stormwater.
Thus, as a result of the implementation of the planned activity, the expected emissions will have irreversible negative impacts on the environment – on the atmospheric air and the adjacent settlement.
The sanitary-protection zone requirements for the proposed activity have not been maintained.”
August 22, 2025 at 17:06