See also: A Chernobyl Cocktai in Kajaran

The Ministry of the Environment has never conducted air quality monitoring in the province of Syunik. The water basin has only been studied in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 2004.

"Zangezur, or to be more specific Kajaran, Kapan, and Agarak - being industrial cities - are at risk of pollution. However, ArmEcoMonitoring is not studying the lowest layer of the atmosphere, because the areas mentioned are outside the monitoring network. They don't even conduct regular tests to determine the chemical contamination of soil over the whole territory of Armenia," said Rudolph Torosyan, Director of the Center for Environmental Monitoring at the Ministry of the Environment.

According to data obtained by the Ministry of the Environment in November 2004, the Voghji River, which flows through Kajaran, is contaminated with nitrite, ammonium, copper, and sulfate ions as well as petroleum products.

The information provided by the Monitoring Center notes, "Extreme pollution of the Voghji River was also seen in the segments higher and lower than Kapan. The levels of copper ion exceeded the norm by 209.4 and 169 times respectively. Other samples had nitrite levels which were 8.6 times higher than permitted (in the segment below the cities of Kajaran and Goris). Ammonium levels exceeded the norm by 1.8-3.7 times."

A. Gabrielyan, Head of the Department for Environmental Preservation at the Ministry of the Environment, admitted that, "The effects of the plant on the environment are not being monitored." That is to say, the ministry is content with only the information provided by the plant itself.

Although the plant did not provide us with information about the volume of waste material produced, the ministry provided a statement regarding the different kinds of emissions produced by the ZCMP and the payments made against them for environmental preservation and as fines.

Waste released into the atmosphere in 2004 included around 30 tons of inorganic dust, 1.5 tons of sulfuric anhydride, 54 tons of carbon monoxide, and 18 tons of various nitrogen oxides. Around 1,600 tons of various incomplete particles, 73 tons of chloride, 1993 tons of sulfate and 0.14 tons of copper. The plant has paid around 8.8 billion drams against these emissions.

"Studies conducted by the Ministry of the Environment in 2004 concluded that the plant has caused great damage to the environment. The ministry therefore forced the plant to pay 20 million drams in damages," said Roza Julhakyan, head of the Department of Accounting and Analysis at the Ministry of the Environment.

The mayor of Kajaran, V. Gevorgyan, assured us that the environment was analyzed from time to time in the city and no serious problems were found.

"Last year, on the initiative of the Office of the Mayor, we invited an organization, Eco-Balance, to study the environment in the city. We were glad to see that all the findings were positive," Gevorgyan said.

Gor Petrosyan, the Director of Eco-Balance ltd. presented the real picture of the study. In 2004, the organization received an invitation from the mayor of Kajaran to conduct ecological studies in Kajaran and Kapan, as well as to develop socio-economic programs for the period from 2004 to 2008. But after some time, the Office of the Mayor called the study off. Petrosyan tried to continue on his own initiative; he applied to the Ministry of the Environment for information regarding the ecological situation in Kajaran, but they turned him down as well. "It's true, they forbade me from studying the environment there, but I'm very sure when I say that the situation in Kajaran is not just dangerous, it's downright horrible. Such irrational exploitation of the environment could have catastrophic consequences," Petrosyan explained. He is convinced that the plant is causing immense damage to both the environment and the health of Kajaran's population. "The main cause of this situation is the waste material that fills the gorges. These substances are very volatile, and a small quake can move the accumulated piles of waste. Steps need to be taken to increase the safety of these piles. If they ever move, the local population will be wiped out. I would think that agricultural products there also contain high levels of heavy metals, which, of course, would noticeably harm the health of the people," Petrosyan explained.

Srbuhi Harutyunyan, president of the Socio-Ecological Association, is of the same opinion. "In 2004, the mayor of Kajaran called me and invited me to Kajaran to develop environmental programs," she said. "We left for Kajaran and learned of the conditions there. But when we declared that we would focus our analysis on the Copper and Molybdenum Plant and its effects on the environment, the study was prohibited."

Harutyunyan knew beforehand that the plant was causing immense damage to the city. She insisted that this damage had to be assessed and dealt with accordingly.

"The damage that the plant causes to its surroundings has never been assessed - neither before its privatization, nor after it. Waste from the plant continues to fill the Voghji River without the necessary purification. In reality, the plant is obliged to set up sedimentation tanks, where oxygen filtration would assure that clean water would flow into the river. This is the least that the plant should do. But even that isn't being done, despite the huge profits that they enjoy," Harutyunyan continued.

In 1970, reservoirs for runoff from the plant were dug on land adjacent to the villages of Gharazam, Pukhrut, Voghji, and Artsvanik. The first three have been recultivated since then and are now covered by 50-60 cm of soil. Only the reservoir at Artsvanik is in use today.

"There might be all sorts of talk, but you shouldn't believe it. We have no serious ecological problems. Over the years, large amounts have been invested in recultivating the waste reservoirs and covering them with soil, so that they pose no threat to their surroundings. Trees have been planted, people cultivate the soil here, and these areas are leisure spots as well," said Maxim Hakobyan, director of ZCMP.

But Vladik Martirosyan, an engineer in the environmental section of the plant, worries that using the recultivated waste reservoirs could lead to landslides. "Earlier, during Soviet years, that land was used, but that has to be prohibited now. That land should not be irrigated, it could lead to landslides," he said.

The environmental situation in Kajaran worries Hakob Manasaryan, president of the Green Union of Armenia, as well. He says Kajaran has two major problems - the first is the volume of open mining conducted, which is disrupting the balance of nature, and the second is production waste.

"The waste produced is far greater than the raw material used. According to our information, around 90 million cubic meters of waste has accumulated there. This means that grazing lands and forests will soon be rendered useless for hundreds of years. Very volatile substances are transported through pipes which frequently burst. These substances, dissolving in rainwater and snow, reach the underground water table. Thus, both the soil and the water are being contaminated. And because the Voghji River is the source of drinking water in that region, people can be infected with all sorts of diseases," he explained.

Manasaryan remembers very well how Artsvanik changed when waste material started to be stored there.

"I remember very well how the territory of Artsvanik was ruined when they started to use it as a reservoir for waste material," he said. "There were fewer trees, orchards dried up, and animals started dying. During production, various chemical substances and heavy metals are produced, which are released into the environment in their active forms. And this has been going on for more than thirty years."

to be continued

Photographer - Arthur Torosyan