K+S Group and the Hessen branch of Germany’s Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation, BUND, have now reached an agreement to achieve improvements for the Werra and Weser rivers and bring part of their legal dispute to an end, K+S reported on Oct. 19.
K+S in late 2021 secured a new discharge permit from the Kassel Regional Council for 2022-2027, under which the maximum annual discharge of saline wastewater permitted from its Werra and Neuhof-Ellers production sites was reduced to 5 million cubic meters, down from the permitted 6.7 million cubic meters in 2021 (GM Dec. 31, 2021).
The Hessen branch of BUND filed a lawsuit against the discharge permit, however, and also applied for the permit to be suspended until the facts to the case had been clarified.
As part of this week’s settlement with the environmental association, K+S said it has undertaken to “optimize” the discharge of saline water under the existing discharge permit from the beginning of 2024 “in such a way the Flora-Fauna-Habitat (FFH) area between Philippsthal and Heringen is relieved,” in addition to the gradual improvement in the permitted maximum annual discharge of saline wastewater already planned.
“For this part of the water body between the discharge points Hattorf and Wintershall, BUND and the company have agreed on compliance with an additional target value for chloride of 600 milligrams per liter (mg/l) at the sampling point at the Wintershall entrance,” K+S said.
K+S said it has also made a binding commitment to comply with “even stricter” requirements for mineral concentrations at the Gerstungen gauging station than the limits stipulated under the discharge permit granted for 2022-2027. Under that permit, a limit value for chloride of 2,000 mg/l was applied at the Gerstungen gauging station for 2022, dropping to 1,820 mg/l for 2023, and to a maximum of 1,700 mg/l for the years 2024 and 2025.
As part of the interim agreement reached with K+S, the Hessen branch of BUND has withdrawn its application for the discharge permit to be suspended. Following this interim settlement with BUND, K+S said it is now engaging with the environmental group on the issue of the premature termination of the injection of saline wastewater into deep rock strata.