Environmentalist concerned over air pollution in Yerevan

Emissions are the major factor of air pollution in Yerevan, environmentalist Inga Zarafyan told Tert.am.

“Armenia’s Ministry of Nature Protection has a monitoring center to provide official data on air pollution. They are average data. Air monitoring must be conducted in each administrative district,” she said.

Specifically, the Armenian Molybdenum Production company and the Pure Iron plant, which are located in Yerevan’s Erebuni community, cause serious damage to the air in that area.

“The emissions of the plants are the cause of sulfur hydride, which is very harmful. But the monitoring center ‘equally distributes’ throughout the Yerevan air and gets a low average figure. But it is a high figure for this particular area. The local residents feel the impact,” Zarafyan said.

“The problem of the Nubarashen dump remains unsolved. It is a source of harmful emissions. We have numerous small enterprises, and they report on their emissions on their own will. No enterprises are located in the Central community of Yerevan, but the traffic is so heavy that emissions do not leave the area. And the quarry in Yerevan’s Sary Tagh is a source of dust emissions.”