Great Salt Lake Minerals Corp. (GSLM), a unit of Compass Minerals, on Nov. 11 disclosed plans to incorporate new technology that will enable use of much less water than the company had requested to expand its solar evaporation pond system at the Great Salt Lake.
The company reported that this innovation is possible because of its new, patent-pending technology that increases the efficiency of its solar evaporation ponds by 60 percent. GSLM maintains that pond expansion is necessary to meet the long-term need for more sulfate of potash and has also submitted plans to add the new solar ponds in increments so that the company and public agencies can monitor the lake’s ecology, and to minimize near-term water usage.
“The need for our all-natural sulfate of potash is expected to rise significantly over the next five years as fruit and vegetable consumption increases,” said Corey Milne, site manager of GSLM. “This new plan will allow us to meet the needs of American farmers, and at the same time create new jobs to strengthen Utah’s economy and provide millions of dollars in new royalties to the state.”
Environmental groups, which have opposed the expansion plans because of concerns about the impact on the lake ecology, welcome the news about reducing water use. For one, Lynn de Freitas, executive director of Friends of Great Salt Lake, told Green Markets that GSLM still hasn’t shown a clear need for any expansion of their existing footprint. De Freitas remarked, “It’s good that they are decreasing their water use, but they still have lots to use under the existing entitlement with the state and they still want more.”
In its entirety, the company’s alternative plan for long-term SOP production is projected to use 150,000 acre-feet per year of additional brine, in contrast to the 353,000 additional acre-feet originally requested ?Çô a reduction of more than 50 percent. The company said the new solar-pond technology would increase the yield of sulfate of potash within the current footprint. This technology will also be used in the construction of the new solar evaporation ponds as part of the incremental development plan announced today.
“This technology has been proven effective, and we’re pleased that we now can introduce this technology into our overall plan to increase production while reducing the amount of water we need,” said Milne. “And, by developing the ponds incrementally, we can deliver enough SOP today and tomorrow to meet the rising demand from America’s food growers. This approach is good for Utah and delivers the nutrients that farmers need in the next decades.”
GSLM is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Corps’ environmental consultants to assess newly exposed lakebed within the proposed expansion area that is normally submerged. GSLM has made a commitment to preserve wetlands, so this acreage is being reevaluated to ensure that it is appropriate for development. GSLM submitted a proposal to the Corps in February 2009 to expand its solar evaporation pond acreage in order to increase SOP production.
The Corps is conducting an environmental impact study of the project. GSLM worked with the Corps, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Utah Department of Natural Resources to develop the new adaptive management plan.