亞美尼亞的環保人士表示，一處正預計重新啟用的採礦廢棄物棄置場，可能對附近居民造成健康威脅。
納哈塔(Nahatak)貯存場建造於35年前，儲放阿克塔拉(Akhtala)一座銅礦石精煉廠的化學廢棄物與礦渣，該廠在蘇聯統治末期即已關閉。阿克塔拉位於亞美尼亞東北部。
王子金屬公司(Metal Prince Ltd)擁有這家精煉廠，正在規劃再度使用貯存場址。當地居民表示，從來沒有人徵詢過他們，或對任何可能的風險提出警告。
環保團體「Ekolur」的主席沙瑞芬恩(Inga Zarafyan)說：「這家公司有義務舉辦公眾討論會議，並詢問當地農民，是否同意有這樣一個危險的新設施出現在身邊。」她並表示，該公司應該公開說明他們計畫如何修繕及運作棄置場。
當地居民抱怨，源自棄置場中的物質多年來一直污染著他們的土地。「有時候棄置場的水會滲透到供水給我們土地的灌溉系統中，並流向棄置廠旁的田地。」緊臨棄置場兩個村莊之一的Chochkan鎮，其地方首長吉羅洋(Samvel Gigloyan)說：「我不知道是他們基於什麼理由來決定重新使用這個廠址。」
Tchochkan與Ayrum村的居民也很擔心，他們主要關心的是，在礦渣場鄰近區域放牧或讓兒童嬉戲，是否有危險。Tchotchkan的居民羅薩布揚(Mher Lorsabyan)回憶起幾年前，他的牲畜吃了礦渣場旁的草之後便死了。他說：「有一次我使用礦渣場的水源灌溉我的地，結果所有的作物都報銷。」
王子金屬公司對於目前日益增加的擔憂表達驚訝。該公司表示，雖然棄置場已棄置20年，但並沒有人表示過擔憂，而環保人士現在只是剛開始談論此事，而該公司也已開始翻修棄置場。
亞美尼亞環境部也正在對棄置廠目前的未予以修復的狀態感到憂心。環境部旗下的環境影響監控中心副主任明納斯洋(Seyran Minasyan)表示，場址下方的排水渠道已經封堵。「因此，污水聚積在該處，形成了一個流動的量體。」他說：「若有豪雨或地震，可能會有土石坍塌，造成環境污染。」
明納斯洋表示棄置場需要翻修到最高的標準，若沒有這樣做，則「堆置物─2200萬立方米的有毒物質─任何時間都可能崩落到得本德河(Debed)，阻絕道路與鐵路」。
為精煉廠工作的顧問阿貝揚(Vladimir Abelyan)表示，對於重啟棄置場的憂慮是毫無根據的。
他說，該場址並沒有2200萬立方米這麼多的廢棄物，也不會有機會滑落到得本德河。棄置場有將近200萬立方米的剩餘空間，以目前銅礦石生產的量估計，可再使用6到7年。
他並說明，廢棄物貯存場污水進出的管線都已經修好，防止任何污染鄰近田地的可能。
Environmentalists in Armenia say the planned re-opening of a mining waste dump could present a health risk for people living nearby.
The Nahatak storage facility was built 35 years ago to house chemical waste and tailings from a copper ore enrichment plant at Akhtala in northeast Armenia. It was closed at the end of the Soviet period.
Metal Prince Ltd., the firm that owns the Akhtala plant, is planning to start using the storage site again.
Local residents say they have not been consulted about the plan or warned of any possible risks.
"The company has, above all, an obligation to hold public discussion groups and to ask local farmers whether they agree to having a dangerous new facility right under their noses," said Inga Zarafyan, head of the environmental group Ekolur. She says the firm should publicize plans for how the dump would be refurbished and run.
Local residents complain that material from the dump has been contaminating their land for years.
"Sometimes water from the dump seeps into the irrigation system that waters our land, and flows into a field near the dump," said Samvel Gigloyan, local government chief in Chochkan, one of two villages bordering the dump site. "I don't know what basis they have for deciding to start using it again."
Residents of Tchochkan and Ayrum villages are also worried. The villagers' main concern is that cattle pasture and children play in dangerous proximity to the tailings depot.
Tchotchkan resident Mher Lorsabyan recalls how his livestock died after grazing near the tailings a few years ago. "Once I used the water of the tailings depot to irrigate my land, and the whole harvest was spoiled," he said.
Metal Prince has expressed surprise at the concerns now being raised. It says no one raised concerns about the dump although lay abandoned for two decades, and environmentalists have only started talking about it now that the company is starting to refurbish it.
Armenia's environment ministry is concerned about the current situation at the dump in its unrepaired state.
Seyran Minasyan, deputy head of the ministry's Environmental Impact Monitoring Centre, says drainage channels underneath the site have become blocked.
"As a result, water remains there, creating a fluid mass," he said. "During heavy rain or an earthquake, there could be a landslip which could cause environmental pollution."
Minasyan said the dump needs to be refurbished to the highest possible standards, adding that if this does not happen, "the contents - 22 million cubic metres of toxic chemicals - could fall into the River Debed at any time, closing the road and the railway."
Vladimir Abelyan, a consultant working for the Akhtala ore-enrichment plant, said concerns about the re-opening of the dump are unfounded.
He said there is nothing like as much as 22 million cubic metres of waste at the site, and there is no chance of material sliding into the River Debed.
Abelyan said the site has nearly two million cubic metres of spare space, and given current levels of ore production, it could be in use for another six or seven years.
He also said the pipes taking water to and from the waste storage site are being restored to prevent any chance of polluting neighboring fields.
