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Kassel (dpa) - Just a few days before the old permit expired, the Kassel potash group K + S received a new permit for the disposal of saline wastewater in the Werra.
The regional council of North Hesse has given the company the appropriate permission for the Hessian-Thuringian plants Werra and Neuhof-Ellers for the year 2021, the authority said in Kassel on Wednesday.
However, the new regulation contains slightly stricter environmental regulations.
In future, K + S will be able to dispose of less salt in the Werra, which flows into the Weser.
The limit value for chloride has been lowered from 2500 to 2400 milligrams per liter of water.
The authorities said the values for magnesium and potassium had also been reduced somewhat.
District President Hermann-Josef Klüber (CDU) spoke of a “well-balanced balance between economy and ecology”.
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The approval is of considerable economic importance for K + S.
Production in the potash district depends on the disposal of wastewater.
The Werra is an important route to this.
The permit is good news for the employees, said K + S boss Burkhard Lohr: “It shows that our extensive investments and measures to further relieve the burden on the environment are recognized and will continue to be an incentive to initiate further improvements. »
The discharge is criticized by environmentalists because of its serious consequences for ecosystems and groundwater.
The Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND) Hessen referred to the one-year permit as a "gallows period".
"We would have liked to see stricter requirements now," said Thomas Norgall, BUND Deputy Country Manager.
But now K + S still has a year to adjust its disposal to the requirements of the official management plan.
Norgall announced a thorough technical and legal review of the permit.
In the spring, K + S declared that it would not be able to comply with the lower values agreed with politicians for the next few years and pointed out that 5,300 jobs were directly linked to production in the Werra area.
The state governments in Lower Saxony, Thuringia and Hesse reacted negatively.
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Negotiations on the issue will continue in the coming year.
Because then a decision should be made on the discharge permit from 2022 to 2027.
The Weser bordering countries want to adopt a new management plan for the river beforehand.
This will also deal with the issue of limit values.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201223-99-798228 / 2
BUND environmental association on potash salts in the Werra