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When Man and Nature Collide: Protect the environment to protect health
By Arpi Harutyunyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Environmentalists and healthcare specialists conclude that an increase in respiratory ailments in Armenia can be attributed to a decrease in nature’s ability to clean the air as a result of over-logging and industrialization and destruction of green areas in cities.
Between 2001-2005, cases of respiratory illness increased from 119,550 to 161,045 – an increase of 35 percent.
Ecological destruction accelerated in the 1990s, at first in response to the energy crisis that came during winters of drastic cold. In the years following, further destruction came as trees were indiscriminately cut for export and for use in Armenia’s new furniture factories.
The result to the ecology was near desertification, which was further complicated by an increase in vehicle exhausts and, in Yerevan, the dramatic boom in construction over green spaces, conditions against which agencies such as Armenia Tree Project now battle.
Too much construction, too little green space, creates breathing problems.
In 2000, there were 227,000 registered automobiles in Yerevan. By 2005, the number had grown to 300,000, an increase of 32 percent. Exhaust emissions and decrease of green area was responsible for 97 percent of the capital’s air pollution.
According to data of the Social-Ecological Association, Yerevan had 32 percent green areas in 1986. By 2005 green space had decreased to only 7.6 percent, and according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), only 2 percent of the capital has tree groves.
The result is felt anytime the wind stirs, including at medical clinics where more breathing-related complaints are being heard.
“The number of young people addressing me with serious dermatological problems has increased in the recent years,” says cosmetologist with 20 years of working experience doctor Iza Harutyunyan. “I believe the part of problems of my patients is directly tied up with the contaminated air.”
According to the data of the Social-Ecological Association, concentration of heavy metals within the vacinity of Yerevan exceeds the permitted levels by up to 6 times in at least one case.
Outside the capital, the monitoring center of the MEP says the concentration of certain types of chemical elements and the dust exceeds the permitted limits in Alaverdi, Kajaran, Ararat, Gyumri, Vanadzor.
In the town of Alaverdi, home of a copper smelting plant, the number of children under 14 suffering from respiratory illnesses increased from 679 cases in 2001, to 1,239 in 2003.
Meanwhile in the town of Ararat, some 40 kilometers outside Yerevan, residents complain that their air is thick with dust and contaminants from a cement factory and a gold-processing plant.
The data of the Ararat gold mining plant show the exhaustions include toxic agents such as cyanide, sulfur and carbon monoxide, mine stone dust and chlorine vapors.
Farther from the capital, residents of Kajaran (situated some 350 kilometers from Yerevan) joke saying that their town differs from others by a wide-spread coughing. The number of cardiovascular illness and incidents of lung tumors has increased in recent years, believed to be directly connected with the exhausts by the copper-molybdenum plant.
“Unlike other towns here we have jobs; but the air is in terrible condition. The cases of female and male genital illnesses have also increased, many of them have tumors. But the topic is forbidden in the town, otherwise you can lose your job,” says resident Karine, 50 (who would not give her full name for fear of reprisal).
Vardan Avagyan, senior doctor of the town still makes judgments on the illnesses by studying the catalogues:
“The town is an endemic hearth where the thyroid gland, female genital and mammary gland illnesses are spread,” says Avagyan.
“Since Soviet times the cases of silicosis, illnesses of respiratory organs and blood have been the most widely spread in Kajaran,” says Emil Babayan, head of the laboratory of industrial toxicology at the Research Institute for General Hygiene and Professional Diseases. “It’s an industrial illness that emerges by the mining dust inhalation. There is also a high level of male genital illnesses, which is mainly connected with lead and molybdenum.”
Babayan adds that such mining plants typically produce cadmium, iron and arsenic, all of which are hazardous, as is evidenced by cases he sees in Kajaran.
Dust Clouds settle at Walnut Ridge
By Rosa Kasper
The new entrance to Walnut Ridge Primary School nears completion.
Vernon — Workers at Walnut Ridge Primary School were left in the dust when a cement worker dry-cut an exterior wall in early July, while preparing to build a new entrance for the school.
Today, the dust clouds have settled and the site has been cleaned at contractor T.M. Brennan’s expense. But company owner Ted Brennan says he is still facing state fines, which he is appealing.
The district learned about the dry-cutting after the employees complained about the dust to the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Public Employee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (PEOSHA), which sent inspectors to the school.
In spring 2007, the state passed a law banning dry-cutting concrete because it raises high levels of crystalline silica dust. Breathing silica dust can lead to respiratory problems, and prolonged or repeated exposure to the dust can cause silicosis, a disabling and often fatal lung disease, Centers for Disease Control studies say.
Superintendent Tony Macerino said that the Vernon School District was unaware of the law. The state hasn’t fined the school district.
Brennan said that his company knew the law, but “one employee did things the lazy way.”
“I’m confident that the air quality at the site now is as good as it was before construction started,” Brennan said. “I wouldn’t want any kids, including my boys, to be exposed to anything that could harm them.”
The contractor has two sons, ages 5 and 6, who attend Walnut Grove School, and a third son scheduled to start kindergarten there next year.
Members of the custodial staff, who have asked to have their names withheld, reported experiencing sore throats, hoarseness and coughing after being exposed to the dust, which they described as being everywhere. One employee alleged that the custodians were asked to clean the site with mops and water, raising dust and causing concrete slurry to form on the floor.
But the superintendent denied that the employees had been asked to perform the cleanup, and said that they had in fact been barred from entering the dust-contaminated area, which had been cordoned off.
“The general contractor has, at the direction of the district administration, completely ceased the practice of dry-cutting at Walnut Ridge,” Macerino said. “In addition, the district has agreed to post a Notice of Corrective Action in the school (as per the findings of PEOSHA).”
Macerino also explained that EnviroVision Consultants has tested dust levels at the school, and has conducted a “wipe test” of the dust at the job site. The district brought in the Fair Lawn company to assure the site would be safe when the children arrive on Sept. 6.
“All of these tests are either ‘negative,’ ‘none-detected’ or were well within permissible levels defined by state and federal regulations,” Macerino said. “None of the tests demonstrated that there is a level in the air of materials such as silica that is above the amount permitted by state or federal laws.”
In addition, the building is currently being cleaned room by room, so that any of the dust and debris generated by construction activities at Walnut Ridge will be gone by the time students and staff re-enter the building in September.
Business Administrator Thomas Papa praised the contractor for being responsive and cooperative, and said that the board has shared the test results with the employees’ bargaining unit, the Vernon Township Education Association, the Vernon Board of Education and their union representative. What’s more, the results also have been posted in the main office at Walnut Ridge Primary School, and the district has offered the N.J. Education Association representatives the opportunity to meet with EnviroVision.
The superintendent said that the tests show that Walnut Ridge is safe for the employees in the building.
“While it is regrettable that the ‘dry-cutting’ practice had occurred at all, the district has been assured by EnviroVision, an independent corporate entity specializing in environmental testing, that the Walnut Ridge environment is currently safe for employees and will be safe for students and staff upon their return in September,” Macerino said. “If any of the public would like to see these results or have questions concerning this issue, they may contact the district’s School Business Administrator, Thomas Papa.”
The reconfiguration of the front of Walnut Ridge School was funded by a small part of a $6.2 million referendum voters passed in December 2006. The bulk of the money is paying for major renovations to the high school auditorium, track, tennis courts and stadium.
The new entrance at Walnut Ridge is designed to improve security and traffic patterns, and should be finished by Sept. 6 when the children arrive.
The school is located on Route 517 in Vernon.
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