21 March 2016

Saline Reduction Masterplan Criticized

A large number of factors have a bearing on whether good environmental conditions can be attained for the Werra and Weser rivers. The 'Saline Reduction Masterplan' approved by the Weser River Basin Association environment ministers today - a special program of measures tied to the Weser River Basin Association management plan - is, however, geared solely toward reducing saline pollution. Whether this in itself is sufficient for achieving good environmental conditions is open to question from the K+S perspective.

The Company particularly criticizes the fact that there are still no firm findings that would attest to the feasibility of certain key measures (underground storage). Nevertheless, the masterplan already assumes a positive result. The plan even anticipates cutbacks in potash production for the purposes of achieving its objective. Such a move, which has not been reviewed in terms of its proportionality, will not be accepted by K+S.

While the Four-Phase Plan is based on a long-term, feasible and proportionate concept, which combines a further improvement in environmental conditions with reliable prospects for the use of domestic raw materials, the saline reduction masterplan that has just been approved is based on assumptions with respect to the successful storage of saline wastewater underground that require intensive research and evaluation over the coming years to determine their feasibility. K+S will commit substantial resources to doing so.

Only then there will be clarity as to whether saline wastewater can be securely stored underground on a scale that has not been realized anywhere in the world to date.

Should such storage prove to be unsuccessful or insufficiently successful, the timely realization of a supplementary Upper Weser long-distance pipeline of sufficient dimensions by the end of 2021 will be a key cornerstone of the long-term disposal concept and a prerequisite for improving the water quality of the Werra as well as for ending the practice of injecting saline wastewater into the plate dolomite.

K+S will not accept a move that impacts production in order to achieve thresholds that have been set for political reasons and the proportionality of which has not been evaluated, because it is also disproportionate within the meaning of the EU Water Framework Directive and would have a hugely adverse effect on the operation of sites in the Werra-Fulda potash district, making their operation no longer commercially viable. The Company has extensively commented on the drafts of the management plan and repeatedly drawn attention to these problems. K+S will therefore have to expressly reserve itself the right to request a judicial review.

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 2015 of about € 4.2 billion and an EBIT of € 782 million. Learn more about K+S at www.k-plus-s.com.


Downloads

K+S AG issued this content on 21 March 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 21 March 2016 10:43:17 UTC

Original Document: http://www.k-plus-s.com/en/news/presseinformationen/2016/presse-160321.html