EcoLur
“80-85% of Meghri region's GDP surplus is generated due to mining activities. At the same time, the dependence of population on copper, molybdenum and gold prices on the world market makes community life risky minimizing tomorrow's confidence, boosting emigration," this is what “Perception of People on Social Impacts of Operations of Agarak Copper And Molybdenum Combine in Syunik Region and Proposals Aimed at Overcoming Negative Impacts” document says.
In-depth interviews with residents of Meghri, Agarak, and Karchevan communities revealed that Agarak's activities are positively assessed by the residents in terms of job creation. However, a number of negative impacts of the plant have also been mentioned: breach of land cover, cracks caused by strong explosions, presence of harmful dust, expansion of tailings dumps, and accumulation of waste and pollution of water resources, spoilage of agricultural products.
"Our interviews revealed that for most households, actions were taken to prevent the social impacts of the plant, such as "Safe Waste Disposal", "Creation of Special Polygons", "Improvement of Active Landfills", "Cleaning and Restoration of Polluted Areas", "Water Resources Reduction, Suspension, Conservation of Water Resources to Water Resources", "Wastewater treatment, improvement of sewage system","Air Purification" "Noise, Vibration and Radiation Protection", "Contaminated Soil, Pesticides", "Biological Resources Protection of Specially Protected Areas and Forests" and “Provision of Medical Equipment. "
These actions are directly in charge of their health and the accountability and responsibility of the plant. During none of the interviews did we hear about at least one project implemented in these areas in the community in the past 3-5 years.
The work mentions that according to a 2016 study by the Department of Ecology and Nature Protection of YSU, the soils adjacent to the mine and 3 tailings dumps in Agarak have varying degrees of contamination with copper, molybdenum, lead and cadmium.
“Perception of People on Social Impacts of Operations of Agarak Copper And Molybdenum Combine in Syunik Region and Proposals Aimed at Overcoming Negative Impacts” document has been developed by EcoLur within the frames of “Mining-impacted Communities – Full Participants in EITI Process” project by Dr. Anahit Mkrtchyan, Head of “Community Mutual Assistance” Social NGO.
This material has been prepared within “Mining-Impacted Communities – Full Participants in EITI Process'” project implemented by EcoLur with the USAID support within the frames of “Engaged Citizenry for Responsible Governance” project implemented by Transparency International Anticorruption Center.
This article is made possible by the generous support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
August 16, 2019 at 15:14