LAKE SEVAN AND WARM RELATIONS BETWEEN NATURE PROTECTION MINISTRY AND GEG MET COMPANY
ArmInfo
2010-05-04 14:39:00
ArmInfo. While the State Environmental Expert Committee of the Ministry
of Nature Protection of RA is deciding whether or not to give a
positive resolution to construction of a processing factory in Sevan
basin, one building of the factory has already been built. "Gegamet
Plus" presented the construction project on crushing and classifying
dunite- peridotites. EcoLur presents photos taken in March 2010 that
display almost complete building of the factory, while the open-cast
processing of raw materials from Shorzha Mine is located 1 km far
away. Crushing raw materials results in dust that contains toxic
chromium which is blown off directly to Lake Sevan.
Reminder: still in 2008 one of the founders of GEGAMET Vladimir
Gasparyan publicly stated a ore processing combine will be set up
in the region of Lake Sevan to develop Shorzha and Jil Mines that
will annually produce 20 mln tons of refractory, 150 thousand tons of
additives to obtain cement, 50 thousand tons of chrome concentrate and
20 thousand tons of ferrochromium. The co-owner of this enterprise
turned out to be RA NA deputy Khachik Manukyan from the same party
as the Minister of Nature Protection of RA.
EcoLur was informed that the Expert Committee on Lake Sevan
Preservation at the National Academy of Sciences of RA didn’t support
the factory construction project near Shorzha with the following
substantiation: RA Law "On Lake Sevan" forbids construction of
processing enterprises in Sevan basin.
Despite this ban laid down in the law, the Ministry of Nature
Protection of RA still decided to hold public hearings on this
project. Invitation to participate in this event was not announced
beforehand as supposed, but on the very day of hearings, i.e. 27
April. None of stakeholders were warned about: NGOs, Environmental
Department of Gegharkunik Marz and the Aarhus center in Gavar. Under
the information EcoLur has, "Sevan" National Park was not present
in these public hearings with the substantiation that construction
zone is not included in the territory of the National Park, while
impact of dust and wastes on the lake is to be addressed to the State
Environmental Inspection. So these hearings were participated by the
Chairman of State Environmental Expert Committee, the planner and
the Head of Shorzha Village Administration with several villagers.
This fact of concealing the construction near Lake Sevan once again
proves that the Ministry of Nature Protection of RA neglects alarms
regarding "GEGAMET" Company’s operation. The issue, whether processing
dunite- peridotite raw material containing heavy and toxic elements is
lawful, was raised before the Ministry for several times. "Ecolur" NGO,
"For Sustainable Human Development" Association the Aarhus Center in
Gavar and local NGOs publicly draw RA Nature Protection Minister Aram
Harutyunyan’s attention to inadmissibility of "GEGAMET" Company’s
operation near Sevan and call him to take appropriate measures.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
