23 June 2010
Public law agreement
Administrative court rejects lawsuit
On 22 June 2010, the Administrative Court of Kassel rejected an action brought by three municipalities and a fishery cooperative against the public law agreement that had been concluded between the federal states of Hesse and Thuringia and K+S in February 2009.
The plaintiffs, which were supported by the Werra-Weser residents’ conference, asserted that their rights would be violated by the public law agreement.
The court took a different view and agreed with the parties to the agreement, who argued convincingly that the public law agreement did not restrict the rights of the residents, but that, on the contrary, creates the framework for a sustainable improvement in the ecological conditions of the Werra and Weser. More-over, its goal is to make possible the continued production of potash in Hesse and Thuringia.
With a comprehensive package of measures building on the agreement, K+S intends to invest up to EUR 360 million by the end of 2015 in order to halve the occurrence of saline water and reduce the salt concentration in the river by 30 percent.
