Public Council under Armenian President to consider letter from Razdan residents

Letter of residents of the city of Razdan, asking to stop the exploitation of iron mine located in the vicinity of the city, has been already received and accepted by the Public Council (PC) for consideration. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about that by the press service of the PC under the President of Armenia.

"The Razdan residents started their struggle against the exploitation of the iron mine yet in 2009. Then, active resistance of the society managed to prevent open exploitation of the mine," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Inga Zarafyan, chair the public ecological organization "Ecolur".

A special working group, comprising representatives of several ecological organizations, was established in Razdan with the aim to struggle against the exploitation of the iron mine. The activities of the working group are coordinated by the Razdan Aarhus-Centre. Its chair Anait Mnatsakanyan notified the media that during recent days the iron-ore minefield had been activated, and that caused anxiety of the Razdan residents.

"Talks on the mine present the most discussed and painful topic to each Razdan resident," says Anait Mnatsakanyan.

Vardan Aivazyan, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Affairs and ex-Minister of Environment, has treated the ecologists' anxiety as groundless. "The process of ore extraction and separation of black iron from it takes place in a closed crusher, without any chemical reactions," the expert has noted.