Residents protest against cyanic plant construction
On April 6, residents of Meghradzor village of Armenia's Kotayk province will be staging a protest rally in Meghradzor against the construction of Meghradzor Gold cyanide foundry.
The residents were angered by the reports that the Ministry of Nature Protection is going to approve the cyanide production project. They claim that if implemented the project will become another reason for the increase of emigration from the village.
Inga Zarafyan, President of 'EcoLur' NGO, Hakob Sanasaryan, President of the Greens Union, and Greta Gabrielyan, President of the Ecological Academy "NGO, will attend the protest.
In January 2013, new civic initiative group "NO to Cyanide in Meghradzor" issued a statement in which it said, "Meghradzor mine already contaminates the village. The company speaks only about gold mining. But they never speak that the ore contains mercury, lead, arsenic, bismuth, besides gold and silver, i.e. the most toxic elements. On the internet we read articles that arsenic causes lung cancer, lead causes cancer of kidney, stomach, intestine, it destroys liver, teeth and causes abnormalities in fetus development. Mercury causes mental retardation, infertility of both women and men. And now the company contaminates the village dumping wastes, which contain these toxic metals into the territory of the village. If the plant is constructed, the volume of wastes will increase and the existing risks for Meghradzor will boost many times. But the project wasn't even sent to the Health Ministry, though according to Article 5 of RA Law "On Environmental Impact Expert Assessment", assessment of the impact on health is mandatory. After several years Meghradzor mine will be closed down, the company will leave, while Meghradzor-Hanqavan resort zone will turn into a dead zone, which will lead to mass migration."
