Villagers sent away drillers from their territory
"EcoLur" Informational NGO demands holding public hearings on the construction of a new waste burial ground for radioactive and other hazardous chemical wastes.
Under the Armenian Government decision № 836 dated on 23 July 2009, works on locating the waste burial ground for radioactive and other hazardous chemical substances and wastes are conducted in the territory of Zangakatoun and Ourtsalanj Villages. We are worried and anxious with other questions: what kind of wastes and from which factory are to be buried in this waste burial ground, why public hearings were not held in Zangakatoun Village, whether environmental impact opinion of the State Environmental Expert Committee on this issue is available, if yes, what kind of documents served as a basis for this expert opinion.
It should be noted that drilling operations in the administrative lands of Zangakatoun Village were launched in April of this year without warning the villagers and the village administration. These works are conducted by the Center for Geological Prospecting of Yerevan State University. These unrests resulted in the villagers to block the road and to send away the drillers from their territory. The villagers presented their arguments against this program at the meeting with Ararat Marz Head Vardges Hovakimyan. Particularly they stated:
• Distance between village border and probable location of the waste burial ground makes up only 600-700 m,
• The site selected for waste burial ground is located in the center of community arable lands and pastures,
• Water conduits of irrigation system of three villages, Paruyr Sevak, Tigranashen and Erakhas are located only 200 m far away from their operation place,
• Flora and fauna species registered in the Red Book of Armenia inhabit in the territory designed for waste burial ground location.
Absence of transparency in this project implementation led to the situation escalation in Zangakatoun and resulted in the fact that the person responsible for project implementation Marat Grigoryan applied to the government to ensure security for project implementation.
