New public hearings will be held in late March in the village of Melik on the project of the third tailing dump of the Tukhmanuk deposit, Silva Adamyan, the Head of the Bird Lovers Center, told ArmInfo.
To recall, on 10 and 12 February, Mego Gold Company and Nature Protection Ministry held public hearings on the given issue. However, the village of Melik was represented only by the head of the village administration. The villagers applied to the Ministry demanding new enlarged hearings. Adamyan says that the villagers are against both construction of the third tailing dump in 300 meters from the village and the activity of Mego Gold Company, in general. They complain of the environmental damage caused by the Tukhmanuk deposit's development, as well as of the company's arrears of wages. The villagers claim that the exploitation of the deposit has affected the birth rate in the region.
Earlier, Head of the Green Union of Armenia Hakob Sanasaryan said the new tailing dump will be built near the Qasakh River bed not far from the populated areas, gardens, pastures, and the sources of drinking and irrigation water. In addition, Tukhmanuk is located not far from the Hankavan Hydrological Reserve.
Meanwhile, there is high concentration of arsenic, zinc, selenium, mercury, wolfram and other elements in the Tukhmanut deposit and the waste. The second tailing dump is in a very poor state and the hazardous waste is damaging the environment and human health.