ON THE THRESHOLD OF COPPER PARADISE: LIFE ON OTHER'S

The airborne emission of Alaverdi metallurgical plant, Lori region, Armenia, for 2005 totaled 15,500 tons. The plant belongs to the Armenian Copper Programme (ACP). On the whole, the air in the region was "enriched" with inorganic dust containing copper, iron, lead, arsenic and molybdenum, as well as with sulfur dioxide (SO2), the maximum concentration limit of the which is exceeded 15 times. Such are the official data provided by ACP ecologist Suren Yeritsyan to the participants of the Caucasus Media Tour organized by the Regional Ecological Center (REC).

According to the information provided to ArmInfo by AUA Environment Conservation and Research Center, the metal content of soil and dust in the town of Alaverdi several times exceeds the norm. The copper content of soil reaches 5,980 mg/kg, arsenic - 448 mg/kg, lead - 1,021 mg/kg, zinc - 1,450 mg/kg, molybdenum - 183 mg/kg. The concentration of high-density metals in house moss reaches an extreme level: copper and arsenic make up 6.989 mg/kg and 448 mg/kg as against the maximum permissible norm of 200 mg/kg and 80 mg/kg, respectively, leaving alone zinc, iron, manganese, hydrargyrum, strontium, rubidium and other elements of period table which the residents of Alaverdi have to breathe. S. Yeritsyan admits that SO2, 100 percent of the which is injected into the atmosphere for lack of a relevant purification system, is the most dangerous for the environment. Despite this, during some 10 yeas, the plant leadership has taken no steps to change the situation.

Calciferous purifiers that reduce the emission of sulfuric gas by 15-30% will be put into exploitation in 2008 at best. Despite this obscure outlook of ecological improvement in the region, ACP has not monitored the influence of the toxic emission of the plant on the environment and the human health.

Natural Resources Management & Advanced Technologies Program Coordinator Armen Asryan told ArmInfo that the whole territory in the north of Alaverdi is "crammed" with the wastes of the plant which are in the open air. In particular, concrete containers with arsenic conserved yet in the Soviet times have fully rotted. A. Asryan said the area exposed with poisonous substances has a yellow tincture and no plants. In addition, it is practically impossible to breathe for the air rich with noxious vapors. A. Asryan does not rule out that after rains and in the period of thaw, the toxic wastes may fall into the River Debet. According to data of the Environmental Conservation and Research Center, the concentration of lead in Debet in the area of the town of Alaverdi is exceeded trice - from 0.01 mg/sq.m (Vanadzor) to 3,000 mg/sq.m (Alaverdi). According to the official data of the National Statistical Service of Armenia provided to ArmInfo, maximum concentration limit of ammonium ions is exceeded 6.3 times, that of nitrite ions - 2.8 times, sulfate ions (Akhtala district) - 7.3 times. It is noteworthy that despite the statements of S. Yeritsyan that the water from the pool polluted with dump slag does not fully fall into Debet due to the introduction of partial water circulation at ACP, the ecologists failed to mention the content of noxious substances in the river. It should be noted that S. Yeritsyan delivered the phrase "I do not know" at least 20 times during the press conference. Moreover, it should be noted that he has been occupying the post of ecologist at ACP for already 5 years.

Despite S. Yeritsyan's call "not to look at the situation in Alaverdi from the point of view of ecology," he had to answer the question about the influence of weather on the increase of pollution in the town. He said that only low atmospheric pressure is the only obstacle to "dissolution of So2 and inorganic dust (containing heavy metals) in the air." However, Head of Alaverdi station of Armecomonitoring Anush Evoyan said that the plant's emissions in a windy and overcast weather form a mist over the town. Moreover, this mist has a specific smell of hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide and natural gas, which is used in the production. She also noted that SO2 in low concentrations (20-30 mg/m3) creates an unpleasant taste in the mouth and irritates the mucous membrane of eyes. "We live in this town and breath this air. Naturally, there can be no positive influence on the human organism and on the environment", A. Evoyan underlined. According to the analysis of background pollution of the atmospheric air, the maximum concentration limit (MCL) of sulfur dioxide in Alaverdi in September, 2006, exceeded 11 times, that of inorganic dust - 1.2 times and that of nitrogen dioxide - 1.3 times. Moreover, the MCL of sulfur dioxide in the town of Vanadzor exceeded 1.6 times, that of sulfur trioxide, nitrogen dioxide and toluene (toxic product, related to the 3 class of danger by the degree of influence on human organism) - 1.7 times. To be also noted, according to the official statistics, 51,000 tons of hazardous substances were released into Armenia's atmosphere in 2005, which exceeds the indicator, 2001, 3 times. Moreover, 10,9 mln tons of toxic waste products were formed in 2005 and only 2,4 thsd tons of them were neutralized.

Commenting on Yeritsyan's statement on the alleged "insufficient" influence of ACP toxic emissions on the town's ecology, the representative of the Program "Natural Resources Management & Advanced Technologies", Soheil Shayegh, told ArmInfo correspondent that sulfur dioxide SO2, combining with water in the atmosphere, turns into a sulfuric acid (H2SO4) or sulfurous acid (H2SO3). The acid rains have become the reason of real ecological catastrophe: the vegetation in the town suburbs is extremely poor, while it is completely absent in the region of the copper mine, the operation of which, according to the official data, is scheduled for the next year. Moreover, the gas SO2 covers the surface of leaves, over which they cannot breath, or, penetrating into the soil, it kills the plants on inside. One factor more, which causes the Program participants' anxiety, is the cattle pasture on feeds, contaminated with heavy metals, as a result of which usage of milk and meat of animals may be dangerous for health.

In view of this, Yeritsyan's statement about "reduction of the plant's emissions as compared with indicators of the Soviet years" raises doubts. As it is stated in the report of "Investigations and Environment Protection" Center, if up to 5,000 tons of SO2 were released into atmosphere of Alaverdi in 1980th, the emissions since the opening of the plant in 1997 made up 9,000 tons of SO2. To be also noted, according to the official data, the MCL of sulfur dioxide in 2004 exceeded 9.6 times and 15 times in 2005. The data of payments for nature protection are of special interest: if the ACP had paid 73 mln drams to the state budget in 2005, the amount within 9 months, 2006, has made up 94.5 mln drams. As the press-secretary of RA Ecology Minister, Artsrun Pepanyan, told ArmInfo correspondent, the growth of payments may be concerned with either the increase of the plant's emissions or with conferring the wastes to the new category (the more is the danger of the plant's emissions for the environment the more amount is collected by the state).

Despite the fact that neither of these versions is to ACP credit, S. Yeritsyan has shocked the journalists during the press-conference saying that the plant's emissions do not negatively affect the human health. However, the chief pulmonologist of RA HM, Andranik Voskanyan, noted in the talk to ArmInfo correspondent that just the industrial and photochemical smog is the most aggressive for the human respiratory tracts. "The immune and hormone system of the human being is a strong indicator to the environment state. Since increase of NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) and SO2 (sulfur dioxide) gases in the atmosphere affect the morbidity of bronchial asthma, the increase of concentration of these gases in the atmosphere may cause morbidity of 100% of the population with asthma", A. Voskanyan said. He also noted that a high concentration of heavy metals in the atmosphere causes the development of fibrosing alveolitis, a progressive fatal disease, which is equal to the lungs cancer. "Contamination of the atmosphere with toxic emissions is not only the town's but the whole region's problem. Therefore, no wonder that the highest indicator of morbidity with bronchial asthma and allergic diseases is in the Armenia's Lori region", A. Voskanyan said.

All the aforementioned shows that S. Yeritsyan who has been occupying the position ACP ecologist for 5 years is quite vague about the terrible influence of heavy metals on the everyday life of Alaverdi residents. In their turn, ACP leadership have taken no specific steps to utilize the toxic wastes during 9 years, in particular, the arsenic that causes an unrecoverable damage to environment. The excess of the maximum concentration level of heavy metals in the air, blow-out of 100% gas SO2…. The ecologist thinks the payment for nature protection and for natural management can recompense the unrecoverable damage the plant causes to the environment and the residents of Alaverdi over and above. "We pay money, and everything is legal." Didn't Yeristyan mean that the leadership of ACP hereby tries to "buy" guarantees for further reigning in Lori region? There are more questions than answers so far. While, the way from promises to specific acts is still protracted for several years.

Karina Manukyan, ArmInfo, November 11, 2006