CMS Hasche Sigle achieves victory for K+S in Higher Administrative Court of Lüneburg: Future of Sigmundshall potash plant and 850 jobs secured

Hamburg – In a class action lawsuit brought on nature conservation grounds, the Higher Administrative Court (HAC) of Lüneburg today confirmed the legality of the residue dump for the Sigmundshall potash plant near Wunstorf. The court ruled out an appeal. The defendant was the Lower Saxony Department of Mining, Energy and Geology, with K+S KALI GmbH appearing as an interested party. Continued operation of the Sigmundshall potash plant with its 850 employees depends directly on the legal status of the dump. This clarification of the approval situation secures the jobs at the site.

A team led by Dr Fritz von Hammerstein represented K+S KALI GmbH right from the start of the long-running court proceedings.

Nature conservation groups BUND and NABU had challenged approval under mining law to extend the residue dump granted in 2007. They claimed that the dump and the REKAL material used to cover it and support subsequent greening adversely affected the environment.

Hanover Administrative Court allowed the lawsuits and cancelled planning approval, although it did give leave to appeal due to the fundamental significance of the matter. In today's judgment, Lüneburg HAC allowed the appeals of the Department of Mining, Energy and Geology and K+S KALI GmbH and dismissed the actions brought by the conservation groups. The court held that use of the REKAL covering material was a permissible form of waste recycling. It was consistent with the nature conservation regulations at the centre of the groups' lawsuit because damage to soil, water or life forms was not to be expected, the court ruled. It added that the substance of the concerns cited by the environmental groups was not such as to call into question the assumptions behind the granting of planning approval and the underlying scientific and experimental evidence.

K+S KALI GmbH is a subsidiary of K+S Aktiengesellschaft and Europe's largest potash producer.

Advisers CMS Hasche Sigle:

Dr Fritz von Hammerstein, (Lead Partner)
Dr Johanna Raasch, both Environmental and Planning Law