Great Salt Lake Minerals Corp.’s trade of existing undeveloped leases on the Great Salt Lake with the state of Utah for leases in highly saline regions is being viewed as a win-win for both sides, according to officials with parent company Compass Minerals. That is, except for a few unhappy environmentalists.
The exchange involves 37,000 acres of the lake considered preferable for production of sulfate of potash specialty fertilizer, giving GSLM the ability to meet growing potash demands in future years. The state gets approximately 30,000 acres with lower mineral concentrations, which GSLM has had under lease since 1967. But more importantly, Utah gets an area of existing wildlife habitat that could one day be cordoned off from future development and protected for continued use by birds and mammals. “The leases relinquished by the company around Promontory Point have higher value for wildlife,” explained Compass Minerals spokesman Dave Hyams. “The leases picked up by the company have a lower value for wildlife because of the higher salinity, which means they will be more productive for solar evaporation ponds. That’s why it’s a win-win situation.”
Friends of Great Salt Lake is not certain the trade, which is out for public comment, will keep the lake healthy in the long run. “The bitter pill is smaller than the more than 50,000 acres the company originally sought from the state,” Lynn de Freitas, director, told the local press. Site Manager Corey Milne reassured detractors that GSLM “will continue to respect the environment and the ecosystems of the lake as we expand to become an even greater contributor to the local economy and community, and to meet the vital needs of farmers.”
Compass Minerals at Overland Park, Kan., described the agreement as part of a multi-phase GSLM expansion announced in 2007 to meet future demand for sulfate of potash. The first phase is to increase the amount of sulfate of potash the company can produce utilizing its existing 43,000 acres of evaporation ponds at the Great Salt Lake by investing in infrastructure and efficiencies. The second phase of the long-range plan to add new solar evaporation ponds on 33,000 acres is undergoing a federal environmental impact study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Salt Lake City. The acreage acquired in the lease exchange is also subject to environmental review before any new ponds are built; it was unclear if the permit will be amended to include this addition.
Hyams told Green Markets he didn’t know at this point if the new acres would be included in the application currently under review. He did say there is the possibility that the two could be tied together, but these discussions haven’t taken place yet. Compass has said, however, that the final scope of these combined 70,000-acre projects – including the timing, cost, additional pond harvest, and need for additional processing capacity – will be determined when grower demand dictates. But the leased acreage is unlikely to yield increased SOP production for at least five years due to the time requirements of the permitting process, pond construction, and the three-year solar evaporation cycle. Jason Gibson, Army Corps’ chief of Utah development regulation, said that changing the application could mean having to start all over again. Gibson said the current EIS process, which began in November 2007, is expected to reach the draft stage in late spring or early summer.