ECOLOGICAL SUBSTANTIATION OF STRATING TEGHUT DEPOSIT’S OPERATION
CALLED INTO QUESTION

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN. Despite the positive conclusion of
the State Ecological Expert Group on the development of the Teghut
copper-molybdenum deposit, this issue remains open and requires
further discussion. This was the opinion of most participants of the
round table organized recently by the Vanadzor Aarhus Center with the
support of the OSCE Yerevan Office. The then governor of Lori marz
Henrik Kochinian, the executive director of the company Armenia Copper
Program (ACP) Gagik Arzumanian, the director of Hayantar (Armforest)
Martun Matevosian, the community heads of the villages of Shnokh and
Teghut, members of the State Ecological Expert Group, as well as
representatives of various NGOs and the press took part in the
discussion. Among unconditional supporters of the Teghut deposit’s
development are ACP, the regional administration of Lori marz, and the
community heads of the villages of Shnokh and Teghut – Haykaz
Kochinian (the former governor’s brother) and Harutyun Meliksetian. By
estimates of the company, 510 ha of forest has to be cut down.
According to independent experts, the felling area will be three times
as much. "The disastrous state of forests in Armenia does not allow us
to lose the remainig forest," independent expert Anush Nersisian from
the Institute of Botany of the RA National Academy of Sciences
said. She pointed out that this will lead to destruction of not only
trees but also some unique species of plants and animals in the unique
Teghut ecosystem. Much damage may be done to water resources as
well. Although the author of the project on operation of the Teghut
mine Hovik Nikoghosian assures that the damage will not exceed 10%,
the villages of Shnokh and Teghut are under real threat of being left
without water. Yet another prolem is related to the health of people
who live near the future mine, to which dust with heavy metals will
move. There is no conclusion of the Ministry of Health which is
required in such cases. The conclusion of the Ministry of Agriculture
on possible damage to agricultural lands is also absent. According to
the head of the Public Center on Legal Environmental Protection Aida
Iskoyan, the main point is that a deposit to be kept as the country’s
strategical resource for future generations will be put into
operation. The State Ecological Expert Group’s conclusion should have
contained a comprehensive analysis. However, as it turned out during
the round table, the expert group made its decision without
appropriate conclusions submitted by the direct interested parties –
Armforest, the Ministry of Health, etc. Besides, the director of
Armforest Martun Matevosian stated that an expert assessment of damage
to forest may be presented only after the investory that they have not
completed yet. The ecological expert group’s document did not also
contain a written opinion of the territorial nature protection
inspection of Lori marz which expresses a negative conclusion about
the project. There is an impression that the State Ecological Expert
Group is under pressure. So the ecological community took a decision
to hold another hearing in Yerevan.