EcoLur
Through an analysis on the conclusion of the expert examination designated for exploitation of the Amulsar gold mine, the body conducting proceedings found that there are no grounds for criminal prosecution to continue the proceedings. This is what head of the investigative group for intentional concealment by officials for exploitation of the Amulsar gold mine Yura Ivanyan said during a press conference hosted by the Investigative Committee of Armenia today.
Yura Ivanyan listed the findings from the opinion by ELARD:
- There are no underground water flow and pollution transfers between the Amulsar project site and Jermuk thermal springs,
- Impacted groundwater will not reach Jermuk in case of earthquake,
- Impacted groundwater from the Project site may not be discharged into the Spandaryan-Kechut tunnel, nor is the Amulsar Mountain groundwater discharged into the tunnel, according to isotope data,
- According to the same opinion there will be no impact on Kechut Reservoir and Lake Sevan,
- Potential mixing of impacted waters in the event of an earthquake first with the waters of Kechut reservoir and after that with the waters of Sevan will not cause significant or even measurable changes in the concentration of Lake Sevan due to the sizes of Lake Sevan and the successive attenuation of the two reservoirs.
- The impact on the Vorotan, Arpa, Darb rivers is uncertain, as the models are not assess and do not quantify these impacts quantitatively.
According to Yura Ivanyan, the panel generally assessed Lydian's mitigation measures as being reasonable, but at the same time suggested additional measures and came to the conclusion if mitigation measures and proposed additional measures would be implemented properly then the environmental risks of water resources will be manageable.
However, the ELARD experts' answers to the questions raised in the conclusion are different. Specifically, ELARD experts speculate on the impact on Lake Sevan rather than giveprofessional assessment.
August 14, 2019 at 20:17