Nature ministry to check toxic substance leak report
17.10.2012,
21:10
Armenia’s ministry of nature protection said it will check a report claiming a leak of toxic substances into the river of Debed near the town of Alaverdi in the northern province of Lori.
YEREVAN, October 17. / ARKA /. Armenia’s ministry of nature protection said it will check a report claiming a leak of toxic substances into the river of Debed near the town of Alaverdi in the northern province of Lori.
The ministry said at around 17:50 a call to its hotline said a crack emerged in the wall of a burial ground with arsenic, located one kilometer from the town of Alaverdi, and the poison began to leak into the river Debet.
Nature protection minister Aram Harutyunyan ordered the employees of the provincial State Nature Protection Inspectorate to travel to the site. The Ministry of Emergency Situations was also notified about the report. It also sent its own team of experts to the site. Both agencies promised to notify about the pace of inspection.
The River of Debed stretches for 178 km (152 km in Armenia and the rest in Georgia). Debed is the second full-flowing river of Armenia after Araks River. Its water is used for irrigation and power generation. The town of Alaverdi, Dsegh village (home of writer Hovhannes Tumanyan), Sanahin and Hakhpat monasteries, included in the World Heritage List are located on the banks of this river. -0-
