16 February 2015

Statement on media reports
  • The injection approved in 2011 until the end of 2015 does not pose a danger to drinking water. This is confirmed by several updated reports and ongoing monitoring as well as observations by K+S and responsible authorities
  • Questions on continuing injection until 2021 under the four-phase plan are to be prepared in the upcoming approval process

The news magazine DER SPIEGEL reports, in its current edition, thatsaline waste water from potash production on the Werra would endanger a number of drinking-water wells. K+S' position on this is as follows:

The permits of the Werra combined plant, issued by Kassel regional council on 30 November 2011 (injection) and 30 November 2012 (discharge), are the basis for the disposal of saline waste water. The use of these means of disposal is state of the art in the potash industry worldwide. Effects on the environment are recorded, documented and assessed by extensive official inspections and monitoring programmes, as well as within the framework of self-monitoring.

In the position of the Hessian Agency for the Environment and Geology (Hessisches Landesamt für Umwelt und Geologie, HLUG) from Summer 2014, mentioned by SPIEGEL, the situation in selected drinking water supply facilities as well as the long-term development of chloride concentration in the Werra potash district is being assessed. However, the HLUG also comes to the conclusion that "the evaluation of the current situation of the groundwater in the Werra potash district, used to supply drinking water, shows that at present there are no usage restrictions for currently operational treatment facilities as a result of the hydrochemical raw-water quality."

In addition, Gesellschaft für Ingenieur-, Hydro- und Umweltgeologie mbH (IHU), Nordhausen, commissioned by K+S in the context of updating and expanding the reporting on the safety of the drinking water supply in the area from Bad Hersfeld to Bad Salzungen, clearly indicates, in its extensive report presented in October 2014, that:

  • hydrochemically verifiable impacts of saline waste water injection into the plate dolomite on wells and springs, based on data coming from the HLUG, K+S and the Thuringia water providers, are currently not detectable,
  • the locally ascertained changes in mineralisation are at a low level, with fluctuations and trends in sodium and chloride at various sites being of a geogenic (natural) kind. These long-term minimal trends should continue to be monitored in K+S' self-monitoring and in the state measurement network, and
  • no danger to the drinking water supply can be deduced in the existing water intakes of the hydrogeological survey field as a result of saline waste water injection, according to available data and the current state of knowledge.

A further report from Summer 2014, which Kassel regional council had commissioned toBüro für Hydrogeologie und Umwelt HG in Gießen, also concludes that current data do not indicate any clear saline waste water impacts on the drinking water supply. Tests carried out at the Bad Hersfeld mineral water springs also confirm that there is no interference.

With regard to a possible continuation of injection after the end of 2015, HG states that: "The reduced injection volumes and pressures called for in the injection permit will probably have a positive impact for the drinking water supply facilities with respect to usage prospects."

K+S is currently working - as envisaged in the four-phase plan - on the application documents to continue injection until 2021. They will be passed on to the responsible authorities in the coming weeks. In connection with this, questions and comments are to be processed and considered by Kassel regional council.

About K+S

K+S is an international resources company. We have been mining and processing mineral raw materials for 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 2013 of about € 4 billion and an EBIT of € 656 million. K+S is the commodities stock on the German DAX index.www.k-plus-s.com.


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