ArmInfo.Proceedings have been initiated on the fact of pollution of the Voghchi river in the Syunik region of Armenia caused by an accident at the metal pipeline of the Artsvanik tailing dump of the Zangezur copper-molybdenum plant. Minister of Nature Protection Erik Grigoryan announced this on October 23 during a government hour in parliament.
According to him, the Inspectorate initiated inspections, appropriate samples were taken, which already indicate an excess of the MPC (maximum permissible concentration - ed. note) of a number of heavy metals in the river. As the Minister pointed out, there are a number of legislative regulations that in such a case establish either administrative or criminal liability, depending on the severity of the damage to the environment.
At the same time, as Grigoryan recalled, a similar accident at the same place was recorded in 2010. Then the company compensated for the damage and paid a fine in general in the amount of about 700-900 thousand drams. "We believe that the amount of compensation under the current legislation does not reflect the actual amount of damage done," he said, noting that the ministry is currently working to toughen sanctions and increase fines for damaging the country's environment and water basin.
To recall, on October 17, early in the morning, it became known that the waste from the Zangezur Copper- Molybdenum Plant fell into the Voghchi River, as a result the river turned brown. Before the rescuers arrived at the scene, the damaged area of the waste storage was repaired. As Erik Grigoryan stated then, the pipes at the plant have not been replaced since Soviet times. According to him, the amount of damage to the environment will soon be determined, on the basis of which the amount of compensation will also be determined. At the same time, as the Minister admitted, the current regulation on restoration of environmental damage needs to be substantially revised. So, the legislator has set such ridiculous tariffs for damages that it is often more profitable for the owner of the mine to pay a fine than to modernize the infrastructure, in particular, to change the pipes