WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Armenian Environmental Network (AEN) welcomes the recent Written Declaration No. 503, signed by 44 members of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, condemning the “man-made ecological disaster project of Teghut.”
AEN maintains its longstanding position that the mining project in Teghut, in the Lori province of Armenia, must not go forward without the completion of an independent Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), including ample opportunity for public discussion. If there is a finding of significant impact under the independent EIA, the project should be abandoned. If there is no such finding, and the project moves forward, benefits to the community must be clearly outlined by the Vallex company, now known as the Armenian Copper Programme (ACP), and the implementation of such benefits must be enforced.
The Declaration asserts that the Armenian Government violated its international obligations and Armenian legislation by forcefully taking the lands of the community against their will for mining purposes. Interestingly, an independent report by Canadian consultants Strathcona Mineral Services, Ltd., commissioned by ACP to review the internal EIA conducted by ACP, reached similar conclusions. This report was published in December 2010 and finds that the Teghut project, which remains unchanged from the time of assessment, breaches several national and international laws.
Additionally, the Strathcona report finds that ACP’s internal EIA failed to meet international standards, and that the studies conducted thereunder failed to consider many of the serious, lasting, and negative impacts that the project will cause to human and environmental health. Finally, the report indicates that “to-be-affected communities” were not properly informed about the risks, and that any public participation that took place was “perfunctory and unproductive as all the major decisions were already made.” Clearly, this project should never have been accepted by the Armenian government.
There has been significant protest to the Teghut mining project by communities and NGOs throughout Armenia, who have witnessed the destruction that irresponsible mining practices have wreaked across the country, pock-marking the land with deforestation, degraded soils, loss of biodiversity and long-term economic loss for local communities. As Declaration No. 503 states, “According to independent experts, the damage caused to nature by the exploitation of the Teghut mine will be immeasurable, as not only thousands of hectares of forest and rich biodiversity included in the ‘Red Book’ will be lost, but also about 500 million tons of poisoned waste full of heavy metals and about 600 million tons of other kinds of waste will be produced.”
This problem is not unique to Armenia; we see this type of environmental degradation around the world, wherever mining companies are free to operate under rules of their choice and to destroy pristine ecosystems for private gain. However, Armenia’s forests are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. The World Bank has predicted that at the current rate of deforestation, Armenia will have no forests left by 2020. Whereas other countries may lose forests the size of Teghut every day, Armenia simply cannot afford this rate of destruction.
The Teghut forest is virgin old growth forest, one of the few left in Armenia. Any saplings replanted to mitigate negative impacts will not replace the ecological quality of what was destroyed for many generations, if ever. Mitigation practices should not be taken lightly, and if the public agrees to them, all such practices must be planned and implemented according to professional standards, including appropriate follow-up and care of replanted trees.
AEN firmly believes that engagement with the affected local communities is key to developing viable alternatives to preserve the area for economic benefit, such as the development of agroforestry and other local businesses whose production depends on sustainable development of local natural resources. AEN is currently working on the ground in Armenia and in the US to assist in the development of such alternatives. We invite and encourage public discussion about this project, and we welcome anyone who wants to work with us to promote a sustainable solution.
AEN calls on ACP to do the right thing and to halt current plans to resume activities this spring. ACP must conduct an independent EIA to international standards before continuing with the Teghut mining project. Finally, ACP must create a long-term program for communication and consultation with the public to determine necessary programmatic changes and to properly mitigate negative impacts.
AEN also calls on the Armenian government to abide by its constitutional requirements to maintain a healthy environment for its citizens, as well as its international obligations, when considering mining projects.
There are currently several mining companies operating in Armenia, all of which are free to operate without restriction. Kajaran and other communities will be next in a long line of mining-related ecological disasters in Armenia. If we cannot find common ground among all interested parties for the Teghut mining project, we can look forward to a future of more of the same.