K+S criticizes government saline reduction plan

Kassel—K+S Group says it doubts solely reducing saline content in Germany’s Werra and Weser Rivers will improve environmental conditions, as is proposed under a government plan approved March 21. The “Saline Reduction Masterplan,” green-lighted by The Weser River Basin Association environment ministers, is a special program tied to the Weser River Basin Association management plan. K+S said there still are no firm findings that would support the feasibility of certain key measures proposed by the plan; these measures largely comprise the successful storage of saline wastewater underground. Nevertheless, the masterplan already assumes a positive result, the potash and salt producer said in a March 21 statement. “The plan even anticipates cutbacks in potash production to achieve its objective. Such a move, which has not been reviewed in terms of its proportionality, will not be accepted by K+S, and we reserve the right to seek a judicial review,” said K+S. The company said it will commit “substantial” resources to determining the successful storage of saline wastewater underground, a concept that requires intensive research and evaluation over the coming years to determine its feasibility. Should such storage prove to be unsuccessful or insufficiently successful, K+S said the timely realization of its proposed supplementary Upper Weser long-distance pipeline by the end of 2021 will be “a key cornerstone” for a long-term solution for disposing of saline wastewater and ending the practice of injecting saline wastewater into the plate dolomite. The company secured provisional approval in December to resume the injection of saline wastewater from its Werra plant until Dec. 31, 2016, to a limited extent, after its previous water-law permit expired at the end of November (GM Jan.1, p. 13). Early this month, prosecutors in Meiningen in Germany’s Thuringia state charged 14 at K+S AG, including CEO Norbert Steiner and other members of the management board, with illegally disposing of saline waste water and polluting waters (GM March 4, p. 16). The charges relate to the injection of waste water into the Gerstungen trough between 1999 and 2007.