The Kassel Regional Council on Dec. 18 authorized K+S Kali GmbH to resume the injection of saline wastewater from the Werra plant until Dec. 31, 2016, to a limited extent. K+S expects that the final decision regarding the application to continue injection until the end of 2021, will be completed next summer following the completion of the technical assessment by the authority.
"The very limited continuation of injection is a step in the right direction. Nonetheless, until the final decision regarding our injection application, we will have to continue to align production and disposal of the saline wastewater that will inevitably result from our operations to the water flow of the Werra River. Overall, that will be more possible at the beginning of the year due to above average precipitation." said Dr. Ralf Diekmann, managing director of K+S Kali. In view of this, further temporary production restrictions at the individual sites of the Werra plant cannot be ruled out in the months ahead. As a precautionary measure, a works agreement on short-time working has been concluded with the works council.
The Council has granted permission to K+S to continue with the injection of saline wastewater at the Hattorf site of the Werra plant until Dec. 31, 2016, as a transitional measure on the basis of an annual total volume of 725,000 cubic meters. A volume of 120,000 cubic meters per month shall not be exceeded. The technical authority believes that this restriction during the transitional phase will definitely remove any cause for concern regarding groundwater and drinking water.