YEREVAN, JULY 21, ARMENPRESS. Industrial waste of the Alaverdi Copper Factory is being dumped into the Debed River, according to environmentalists.

Members of the Armenians Environmental Front civil  initiative posted a video on Facebook showing brown liquid flowng into the river.

The nature protection ministry has confirmed the information. Spokesperson of the ministry Armen Vardanyan told ARMENPRESS they’ve immediately notified their inspectorate upon receiving the information.

Chief inspector Arthur Grigoryan told ARMENPRESS that the regional department has already been dispatched to take samples from the river. He said the samples will be sent to Yerevan to their lab to determine what substance has been dumped. Results are expected in the beginning of the coming week.

Grigoryan says inspectors at the scene have reported a decreasing flow of the waste.

Alaverdi is a town and municipal community in the Lori Province at the northeastern part of Armenia, near the border with Georgia.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan