Every evening, a choking layer of malodorous smoke covers large swaths of Etchmiadzin, a town in Armenia where the headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church is located.

Residents of neighboring villages are also affected by the smoke emanating from burning trash at the local landfill.

The pungent stench of burning plastic, construction debris, household garbage, and even discarded animal body parts, is so bad that residents are forced to keep their windows shut.

There are five landfills in Armenia’s Armavir province, three of which operate without state registration. None of the trash dumps are fenced off.

On a recent trip to the area, Hetq reporters saw several dozen trucks entering the Etchmiadzin landfill to discard their cargo of rubbish.

Hetq reporters, overwhelmed by the stench, had to wear face masks to enter the landfill.

Packs of dogs and people were seen rifling through the mounds of trash, looking for something to eat or recyclable items for resale.

One man we met, an Etchmaidzin resident, says he’s been collecting glass bottles and metal goods at the landfill for the past five years. He says he can make upwards of four thousand drams daily by selling the items to local manufacturers and recycling centers.

“In the past, only two or three people came to the dump. Their number has since increased. I must get here early every morning to collect a good deal of bottles,” the man says, adding that even his kids don’t know where he goes every day to earn some money.

The man says if word ever got out about his garbage picking, his family would be ridiculed. He says such treatment is par for the course in Armenia.

Storks, an iconic symbol of Armenia, also visit the landfill for easy picking. The majestic birds, blackened by the smoke, can be seen rifling through the mounds of trash.

Area residents say the truck drivers hauling the trash often set it on fire to make way for the next day’s delivery.

Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin) Deputy Mayor Arsen Petrosyan says the landfill will be fenced off once plans to expand the site are finalized.

Hetq reporters who visited the site saw trucks unloading their cargos not in pits to be later covered with dirt, but simply on the ground.

Serob Manukyan, director of the Khoi Medical Outpatient Clinic, says the burning of trash in a landfill so close to residential housing is rife with health risks.

Such risks, he says, increase especially when there is no monitoring of the types of trash and debris burnt at the Etchmiadzin landfill.