SOS FROM ARMENIA! LAKE SEVAN IS IN DANGER!
Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment

We call to the international community to speak for the protection of the unique highland Lake Sevan in Armenia.

Lake Sevan is a strategic stock of fresh water not only for Armenia, but also for the whole Caucasus region. The lake is situated at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level. The stock of water with volume of 33 billion m3, owing to the drop of heights, without any costs, allows providing the whole Caucasus region with fresh water.

The basin of Sevan Lake is also a unique ecosystem of a dozens of plants and animals that are included in the Red Data Book. Sevan is rich in food fish and crawfish. Sevan is the only recreational zone in Armenia.

At present the “Geopromining” Company has an intention to construct a gold recovery factory with the tailing dump at a distance of 20 km from Lake Sevan, near Sotq gold mine.

If this happens, this strategic fresh water stock will be severally threatened from pollution of the ore waste, which, in fact, is considered to be poison – cyanides, arsenic, antimony and pyrite. Oxides of pyrite under the influence of atmospheric precipitation generate sulphuric acid which corrodes all living bodies and nonliving materials, all mining rocks that account tens- and hundreds of thousands tons. This means that for years 10 mln.m3 toxic waste will change into 100 mln.

In case of Sevan this may turn into catastrophe, as far as Sotk field is located in an active seismic zone, where, according to the conclusion of consultants from BFP (1998), an earthquake measuring more than 6 on the Richter scale can be expected.

We are very concerned about the possible ecological and human catastrophe in case the ecosystem of Lake Sevan is destroyed including the main components: fresh water, biodiversity and soil.

We call to
• Consider the alternative projects of the construction of the enterprise out of 50 km zone of Sevan
• Insist that an environmental impact and health risk assessment is carried out by independent experts not on account of the “Geopromining” Company
• Present the results of environmental impact and health risk assessment to the public
• Guarantee public participation in the decision making on the Geopromining Lake Sevan plans
• Provide transparency on the entire process, including financial transactions between Geopromining and involved parties from the Armenian side.

“EcoLur” Informational NGO
Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment (AWHHE)

Contacts:

Inga Zarafyan : info@ecolur.org
Elena Manvelyan: office@awhhe.am