MENR official calls on international organizations to react sharply to Oxchuchay tragedy

The Okhchuchay tragedy continues today, so international organizations must react sharply to the pollution of the Okhchuchay River by Armenians, said Umayra Tagiyeva, head of the National Hydrometeorological Service of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Report informs.

According to her, the ministry regularly informs international organizations in this regard and discloses the level of pollution: "Armenians regularly pollute the river with heavy metals. Pollution is most prevalent in January-March and June-August, mainly in water scarcity periods. The high concentrations of pollutants in the Okhchuchay River primarily are upstream, at a selected point near the border with Armenia."

According to the average annual results in the upper stream (Burunlu village) - ammonium is 3.4 times, manganese 3.1 times, iron 1.5 times, nickel 5.5 times, cadmium 3.4 times, and molybdenum 1.9 times more than the norm: "In the samples of bottom sediments taken from different depths (surface, 10 cm, 20 cm) in upstream, the concentration of metals was found to be higher than in the middle and downstream."

"The river is polluted by wastewater from Armenia's Gafan and Gajaran copper-molybdenum plants. Wastewater is discharged directly into the river without treatment, which leads to contamination of the river with heavy metals. High levels of contamination of the river with heavy metals lead to the destruction of the river's ecosystem and the destruction of bioresources living there," she stressed.