Sign the petition to tell the company and the government of Azerbaijan that the world is watching — this mining activity and permits must be revoked. Together, let’s #SaveSoyudlu

There are ongoing protests in Soyudlu (Söyüdlü) village of Gadabay district (west) of Azerbaijan regarding the recent activities of the gold mine operated by an international company, namely Anglo Asian Mining PLC. The locals share their concern that the mine’s cyanide lake (tailing dam) is at full capacity and the company applied for building a second lake. As a response now the village is effectively “blockaded” by the police force.  Due to the protests and media attention to the mine, some protestors were arrested and fined with penalties and serving time!

We visited the site after the information from locals and observed the situation on the ground. The dam is built not so far from the village (around 350-400 meters away) and the smell of cyanide is determined by locals' claims in the area. This is one of the biggest health concerns of the locals as according to WHO exposure to high concentrations of cyanide fumes can be lethal (WHO, 2004). The locals claim an increase in the number of sick people and the death toll rises since the operations of the mine. The main concern of the local community is the plan of the company to build a second storage dam downstream.

Additionally, we found that there is a leakage in the collection dam and some cyanide solution is collected at lower altitudes near the river, potentially mixing with it! And based on our investigations the membrane isolation of the dam is not sufficient, seemingly covering only certain parts of the lake based on images obtained thus leakage is inevitable. 

Based on all the outrage the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan commissioned a group of people to test water and air for dangerous substances, however, the results as of today are still not publicly announced.

As Ecofront (a local environmental NGO), we would like to draw the attention of international communities to this potential disaster site and help us to save the ecosystem as well as the health of the local community from the similar fate of the Baia Mare spill of 2000. We think the company should stop its operations until further notice. Based on the information we suspect the filled tailing dam already leaks cyanide solution into nearby water. We would like to have nearby drinking water tested by independent sources for the level of cyanide and heavy metals. We believe they don't follow the required standards and guidelines as there is not any measure of control.