Download Injection can be resumed to a limited extent

Kassel, 18 December 2015
Transitional regulation for disposal of saline wastewater
Injection can be resumed to a limited extent
Today the Kassel Regional Council authorized K+S KALI GmbH to
resume the injection of saline wastewater from the Werra plant until
31 December 2016 to a limited extent. However, K+S expects that the
final decision regarding the application to continue injection until the
end of 2021, which was submitted this April, will already be taken next
summer following the completion of the technical assessment by the
authority.
“The very limited continuation of injection is a step in the right direction.
Nonetheless, until the final decision regarding our injection application, we
will have to continue to align production and disposal of the saline
wastewater that will inevitably result from our operations to the water flow of
the Werra river. Overall, that will be more possible at the beginning of the
year due to above average precipitation.” says Dr. Ralf Diekmann, Managing
Director of K+S KALI GmbH. In view of this, further temporary production
restrictions at the individual sites of the Werra plant cannot be ruled out in
the months ahead. As a precautionary measure, a works agreement on
short-time working has thus been concluded with the works council.
Limited continuation of injection
The Kassel Regional Council has granted permission to K+S to continue
with the injection of saline wastewater at the Hattorf site of the Werra plant
until 31 December 2016 as a transitional measure on the basis of an annual
total volume of 725,000 cubic meters. A volume of 120,000 cubic meters per
month shall not be exceeded. The technical authority believes that this
K+S Aktiengesellschaft · Bertha-von-Suttner-Str. 7 · 34131 Kassel/Germany · Phone +49 561 9301-1262 · www.k-plus-s.com
Page 2 of the press release “Injection can be resumed to a limited extent”, 18 December 2015
restriction during the transitional phase will definitely remove any cause for
concern regarding groundwater and drinking water.
The authority’s experts are examining the 3D model’s prognosis
capability
A key element of the injection application is cooperation between K+S and
well-known external experts over a number of years in the development of a
three-dimensional groundwater model (the so-called 3D model). The
operability of the model is currently being finally examined by the authority
and its appointed experts with the required diligence. The objective is to be
able to make statements for various periods of time concerning the saline
water remaining in the substrate, as well as precise forecasts of future
trends for individual drinking water measurement points, in order to exclude
negative effects of injection on the safety of the drinking water until the end
of 2021. In this connection, Mr. Diekmann emphasizes that: “We are using
all the means available to us to support the work that must yet be
undertaken by the authority to perform a final examination of the injection
application so that safe disposal can be restored as quickly as possible”.
Extensive documentation to support application
In April of this year, K+S had applied to be able to inject an average of up to
two million cubic meters per year (previously 4.5 million cubic meters per
year) into the dolomite layer until the end of 2021, submitting documents
containing over 3,000 pages. The application included extensive expert
opinions and external position papers on topics such as protecting
groundwater and drinking water as well as environmental monitoring. In
future, only drilling at the Hattorf site is to be used for injection purposes.
Long-term disposal concept
K+S implements comprehensive water protection measures as well as
recultivation and nature conservation measures, utilizes modern exploration
and extraction methods and constantly further develops its process
technology in order to minimize unavoidable adverse effects on the
environment.
K+S Aktiengesellschaft · Bertha-von-Suttner-Str. 7 · 34131 Kassel/Germany · Phone +49 561 9301-1262 · www.k-plus-s.com
Page 3 of the press release “Injection can be resumed to a limited extent”, 18 December 2015
In recent decades, the volume of saline wastewater in the Hesse-Thuringia
potash district has been significantly reduced, namely from more than
40 million cubic meters in 1970 to 20 million cubic meters in 1997 and then
14 million cubic meters in 2006. To that end, K+S for example developed the
innovative ESTA®-process in which the crude salt is processed without using
water, and has deployed it on a large-scale at several sites.
Since it began to implement a comprehensive package of measures for
water protection in 2011, K+S has to date halved the annual quantity of
wastewater to 7 million cubic meters, and invested roughly € 400 million
during that period.
In September 2014 K+S reached agreement with the State of Hesse on a
four-phase plan for permanent regulation of the disposal of saline
wastewater in the Werra potash district. The goal of the various measures is,
in particular through considerable further investment on the part of K+S, to
further relieve the Werra-Weser natural area and to secure the future
viability of jobs in the potash district on the Werra, Fulda and Ulster rivers
until the deposits have been exhausted.
This includes the construction of another, newly developed facility (KKF),
which will reduce the occurrence of saline wastewater by a further 1.5 million
cubic meters to an average of 5.5 million cubic meters annually from the end
of 2017. Local discharge into the Werra will be supplemented by temporary
operation of a pipeline to the Upper Weser as of 2021. The regional planning
procedure necessary for this is currently being prepared by the authority. In
addition to this, the development, planning and implementation of measures
to reduce the pile wastewater has begun, for example by means of covering,
with the aim of further improving water quality. As regards the salt load, the
Werra and Upper Weser rivers will achieve long-term freshwater quality.
K+S Aktiengesellschaft · Bertha-von-Suttner-Str. 7 · 34131 Kassel/Germany · Phone +49 561 9301-1262 · www.k-plus-s.com
Page 4 of the press release “Injection can be resumed to a limited extent”, 18 December 2015
K+S will thus be investing a total of approximately € 800 million in
environmental protection over just a few years. This represents an enormous
economic challenge. Nonetheless, K+S is ready to meet that challenge as in
doing so it will create the basis on which these disposal issues can be
resolved once and for all.
About K+S
K+S is an international resources company. We have been mining and
processing mineral raw materials for more than 125 years. The products we
produce from them are used worldwide in agriculture, food and road safety
and are important elements in numerous industrial processes. Potash and
salt are integral nutrients for the megatrend of a constantly growing and
increasingly prosperous global population striving for a higher standard of
living. This will result in increasing consumption of mineral resources. We
serve the resulting growth in demand from production sites in Europe, North
America and South America as well as through a global distribution network.
K+S is the world’s largest salt producer and one of the top potash providers
worldwide. With more than 14,000 employees, K+S achieved revenues in
financial year 2014 of about € 3.8 billion and an EBIT of € 641 million. K+S is
the commodities stock on the German DAX index. Learn more about K+S at
www.k-plus-s.com.
Your contact person:
Press:
Michael Wudonig
Phone:
+49 561 9301-1262
[email protected]
K+S Aktiengesellschaft · Bertha-von-Suttner-Str. 7 · 34131 Kassel/Germany · Phone +49 561 9301-1262 · www.k-plus-s.com