ENVIRONMENTALISTS CONTINUE FIGHT TO SAVE LAKE SEVAN FROM TOXIC MINING VENTURE

mentalists-continue-fight-to-save-lake-sevan-from- toxic-mining-venture/
Jun 4th, 2009

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)-Growing environmental concerns over plans
by a Russian-owned mining company to build a gold processing plant
near Armenia’s legendary Lake Sevan are prompting opposition to
the project from some government officials, according to the head
of an environmental NGO working to save the lake from additional
contamination.

The proposed plant, to be situated about 10 kilometers away from
Sevan, would reportedly include a reservoir for cyanide and toxic
chemicals and a dump for cyanide waste. Those toxins could seep into
underground water conduits and enter the 1,200-square-meter body of
water, one of the world’s largest high-altitude lakes and the sole
source for 90 percent of Armenia’s fresh water supplies.

According to Inga Zarafyan, chairperson of Yerevan’s Ecolur information
center, warnings raised by her group and other concerned social
activists have led Armenia’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister,
Armen Movsisyan, and Economic Minister Nerses Yeritsyan to raise
concerns over the project. The President of the Lake Sevan Committee,
Vladimir Movsisyan, she added, has also expressed his opposition to
the building of the processing plant so close to Sevan.

The GeoProMining Company, headquartered in Moscow, and with copper,
gold and other mines in Armenia, Georgia and Russia, wants to
build the processing plant at its Sotk gold mine, 10 kilometers from
Sevan. Reducing transportation costs for ore processing is its reported
goal. Currently, Sotk’s ore must be transported 263 kilometers south
to another GeoProMining processing center.

Fresh hazards to Sevan could mean fresh damage to the Ararat Valley,
which provides about 70 percent of Armenia’s fruit and vegetables and
which takes needed irrigation waters from Sevan. "Armenia will cease
to exist, if the lake is contaminated," commented former environmental
protection minister Karine Danielian.

The government has not yet officially endorsed or opposed the project
but both the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry
of Regional Management confirm that they have discussed the proposed
processing center, Neither ministry, however, has yet received a
written project proposal from GeoProMining, ministry representatives
told EurasiaNet.

But the environmental protection ministry’s assurances of caution
will carry little weight in the face of a December 2008 pledge from
GeoProMining to invest $350 million into Armenia’s gold-mining sector
between 2009 and 2011. Precious and non-ferrous metals are among
Armenia’s top exports.

"They gave similar assurances regarding the [Armenian Copper Program’s]
copper-molybdenum mine exploitation and the plant mine’s construction
in Teghut," commented Zarafian told EurasiaNet in reference to the
ministry. "They promised they would not allow the logging of 670
hectares of forest, but they approved the plan and we lost the best
forests in Armenia."

President Serzh Sarkisian, for his part, has signaled that the
government is keeping its options open.

Speaking to residents of Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province, where Sevan
is located, Sarkisian said the government’s decision to endorse or
oppose the project will be determined by a cost-benefit analysis.

Sarkisian said the government will back the venture if it believes
that the plant will be of economic benefit, and will drop support
for it if it proves to do more harm than good.

According to Zarifyan the President is waiting for more concrete
evidence on the Sotk plant’s economic benefit. She added that
GeoProMining is now conducting feasibility studies to that effect
and the studies should be completed by this October.

Environmentalists had initially looked to the Law on Lake Sevan
to stop GeoProMining’s plans. Article 10 of Armenia’s 2001 Law on
Lake Sevan bans the establishment of processing plants in the lake’s
basin. Despite that, activists contend that the parliament may soon
amend the law – under government instruction – to clear legal hurdles
for the gold-processing plant. Opposition Heritage Party members of
parliament echo that view.

Zarifyan echoed that concern, saying she believes the company will
most likely lobby the government to change the law to allow for the
plant’s construction.

Zarifyan also said that GeoProMining’s Executive Director, as well as
the Chairman of the Board of Directors of its subsidiary in Armenia,
GeoProMining Gold, have threatened to halt all operations in Armenia
if they are not granted the right to relocate the Sotk plant to
Sevan. Presently, the mineral ore extracted from Sotk is reprocessed
in Ararat.

GeoProGold Board Chairman Vardan Vardanian has declined interview
requests and has put an embargo on comments by company spokesperson.

Similarly, both Armenia’s environmental protection ministry and
GeoProMining have refused to discuss the project or to address
potential risks highlighted by environmental activists.

For its part, GeoProMining maintains that it shares the concern for
Lake Sevan’s environment. In an April 26 television interview with
Yerkir Media TV, GeoProGold Board Chairman Vardanian stated that the
company plans to use mining technologies that will eliminate the risk
of environmental damage to Sevan. "We will refuse to exploit the mine
and will stop work if there is the slightest [environmental] hazard,"
he said.

The former director of the Sevan National Park, however, argues
that the area’s landslides and seismic activity may trump any such
technologies. "No one can guarantee the [toxic waste] dump against
an earthquake.

The smallest crack is enough to have the toxins penetrate into
underground water," said Gagik Sukhudian. Fears of potential shelling
from nearby Azerbaijani army positions underline that danger, he added.

To identify potential environmental ramifications, GeoProMining has
commissioned research by the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute
of Hydro-Ecology and Ichthyology. The Academy declined to discuss
the findings with EurasiaNet.

The amount of waste likely to be generated by the proposed
gold-processing plant has not yet been defined, but former
environmental protection minister Danielian estimates the total at
100 million tons over 10 years.

GeoProMining representatives did not provide a figure. It remains
uncertain whether GeoProMining-commissioned research can clarify the
environmental-impact picture.

The company’s reluctance to discuss the project has only fired
environmentalists’ criticisms.

SOS Sevan, an alliance of concerned environmental groups, is afraid
that if GeoProMining is allowed to set up shop on the shores of
Lake Sevan it will open the doors for other companies to follow. The
alliance has said it is preparing to expand its advocacy activities
to raise awareness about the dangers of the Sotk project.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress