BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 21. Water samples have been collected from the Okchuchay River four times, Deputy head of the National Hydrometeorological Service of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan Akbar Asgarov said during the conference "Reconstruction of Water and Wastewater Infrastructure in Karabakh Region", Trend reports.
"Pollution with a large amount of heavy metals was recorded in the taken samples. The Okchuchay River is polluted by the enterprises operating in Armenia. In the pre-occupation period, 17 hydrological and 9 meteorological stations operated in the territory. Visiting these territories after liberation from occupation, we saw that all the stations and points were destroyed and destroyed," Asgarov added.
The Okchuchay river that goes through Armenia’s land joins the Araz river. The copper-molybdenum factory and gold mine in Armenia put their waste into these rivers. So the land and water in the area are very dirty and unsafe. The Araz river is a river that crosses many countries, so it is also hurting the environment in Azerbaijan.
The pollution of the Araz river by Armenia has been a long-standing issue that has attracted international attention and intervention. The European Union, which is a signatory to the Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, sent an observer mission to monitor the situation in Arazdayan, where a large metallurgical plant was being built by Armenia and the US near the border with Azerbaijan. The plant was expected to produce 180,000 tons of copper and molybdenum products per year, but it also posed a serious threat to the environment and health of millions of people in the region.
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