There is increasing opposition within Israel’s Knesset to the agreement approved by the government with Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) on the removal, or “harvesting,” of salt and a new royalties regime. Environmental groups teamed up with a growing number of Knesset Members to denounce the agreement at a stormy session of the Knesset Finance Committee on Jan. 10.

Under the terms of the agreement, the company will cover 80 percent of the cost of harvesting the salt from the Dead Sea’s southern basin in order to prevent the flooding of nearby hotels. In addition, royalty payments are to be increased from 5 to 10 percent.

The meeting followed the rejection by the Israeli government for the second time this month of a comprehensive bill for the rehabilitation of the Dead Sea. The Knesset bill was drafted by the Israel Union for Environmental Defense (IUED) and sponsored by Knesset Member Dov Henin. The proposal goes far beyond the agreement between the Israeli government and ICL, and deals with curbing the declining water level of the northern part of the Dead Sea, biodiversity, and revising the mineral extraction regime that enables ICL to extract potash and other minerals from the inland sea.

Israel’s Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan and Tourism Minister Stas Meseznikov stressed their opposition to the government decision, charging that it would only lead to increased damage of the Dead Sea in the long run. Speaking at the session, Erdan said the Dead Sea “should not be considered a bath full of minerals for the maximization of profits.”

The Environmental Protection Minister also wrote to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding the establishment of a public committee on the Dead Sea and a means of protecting the country’s natural resources. His proposal called for the committee to examine the existing situation and make recommendations on the future exploitation of resources.

Knesset Member Henin charged that the low level of royalties would actually encourage ICL to expand pumping in the northern end of the Dead Sea. He said this would only increase environmental damage to the Dead Sea.

Environmental group Friends of the Earth Middle East charged that the rejection of the Knesset bill and the approval of the ICL agreement were a severe blow to the Dead Sea. The group accused the government of siding with the interests of tycoons – in this case ICL, which is controlled by the billionaire Ofer family – at the expense of the public.

With a gentle nudge from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, both the potash and oil and gas industries are starting down the path of resolving years-old conflicts that have been getting in the way of co-developing resources on thousands of acres west of Carlsbad, N.M.

“There were suits before you and I were born,” according to Tony Herrell, deputy state director of minerals for the New Mexico Bureau of Land Management (BLM). “There were lawsuits before the first order was established in 1939, and there’s been a history of litigation going through this. Now the parties are recognizing that this is not necessarily a legal, but a technical problem. So from that point, they’re looking at how to solve these issues using the best science available.”

Herrell reported that one of the main contributions from Secretary Salazar was his challenging these interests to come up with a consensus and asking them to accomplish this by April 1. “Maybe they won’t be able to meet that deadline, but certainly they can try to get some things put into a new order they can agree on,” he offered. “What’s the important thing as far as BLM is concerned is it is a very open and transparent process and anything we do has to be scientifically-based, and that the data leads us to wherever the data leads. From the BLM perspective, the only way we’ll truly resolve these issues is through honesty and maintaining trust among all parties.”

Herrell is certain that the leadership is in place between BLM and the potash and oil and gas industries to resolve these issues, particularly with the personal support from Secretary Salazar at this time. One of Salazar’s first suggestions was to include Jesse Juen, newly named New Mexico BLM director, as co-chair on the potash, oil and gas steering committee, and to expand the committee to include oil producers like Cimarex Energy, Conoco Phillips, and Chevron. The committee, formed a year ago, is co-chaired by John Smitherman, vice president of operations, with oil and gas producer BOPCO LP, Midland, Texas, and John Mansanti, senior vice president of operations with Intrepid Potash Inc., Denver.

Mansanti did comment to the local press, saying funding is one of the issues standing in the way of further cooperation between the two entities. He added that there would be a lot of beneficiaries from the action. “The country benefits from the resources harvested. Through the timing and technology aspects, we have to find positions that are favorable to both resource industries. Both industries have to give up a little, but both will gain a lot.”

Another important contributor has been Sandia National Labs, which has been conducting studies on the area, including gas migration, to better understand how the oil and gas industry is related to the potash industry, and to create a design that will eliminate the risks involved with integrating the two major industries.

Other areas cited by Herrell involve a new oil and gas casing design on the oil and gas side, along with leak detection systems. He explained, “If you can reduce the risk of petroleum products leaking into the potash bearing formation or use leak detection systems, then you have significantly reduced the risk to potash mining.” Sandia is also conducting enclave mapping and risk assessment surrounding the issue to provide additional geological information to the partnership.

There was no comment from New Mexico potash producers Intrepid or The Mosaic Co., but after taking its own unofficial poll, the local press reported that both oil and gas and potash industry representatives were pleased with the secretary’s course of action, and indicated they wanted to move forward together.