Environmentalists concerned about new findings in Teghut
A group of environmentalists today grouped in Mashtots Avenue in Yerevan to protest against what they said new findings in the Teghut mining project.
According to the group, ERM international company re-estimated the 2006 controversial mining project and gave a negative opinion on it.
"The company has violated all provisions and this is the reason why the company has not published the results of its activity until now. The project initiated in 2006 turned out to be ineffective and they started a new project but were unable to complete it seeing public activeness," says Arthur Grigoryan, a member of the civil initiative campaigning for the protection of Tegut forest.
The environmentalists had been informed about several minor changes introduced in the project.
"In 2010, the draft project envisaged that the depth would be 890 meters, before that it was planned to reach 435 meters. The amount of toxic waste and the area of mining operations continue increasing. More trees are being felled in the forest. This is a different project which has not received due assessment," said the environmentalist.
The activists learnt about the changes from the peer review presented by the international company.
Members of the civil initiative today handed the controversial changes in written form to a representative of the Prosecutor General's Office. In the letter they ask the body to determine and present an accurate analysis of the environmental impact of the Teghut mining operations.
"We are protesting against state bodies that have turned a blind eye to the entire process," said Anna Shahnazaryan, a member of the civil initiative.
Preliminary work on the project began with the clearing of a portion of the pristine Teghut Forest to create a massive tailing dump for the toxic waste left after mineral processing. Currently, the company is aggressively removing a mountain in order to reach the underground deposits of copper and molybdenum. Human rights and environmental activists also protest violations of property rights and the loss of rare and endangered ecosystems and biodiversity.
Before handing the letter, the participants of the protest action marched through the central streets of the Armenian capital.
