Mercury contamination in Cheine: Neptune Energy supports clean-up and education

On the evening of 24 February, Neptune Energy was informed by the environmental department of the Hanseatic city of Salzwedel that fine-grained, localised mercury contamination had been detected on the public agricultural road "Molochsberg" in the Cheine district of Salzwedel. Our monitoring centre in Steinitz took up the report immediately. Since then, we have been in close contact with the relevant authorities.

As a gas extraction company, Neptune Energy has experience in dealing with mercury and has an environmental analysis centre with its own laboratory. In order to assist with the removal of the mercury as quickly as possible, the deputy operations manager of Neptune Energy's gas extraction plant in Steinitz was on site just a few minutes after the report was received, together with representatives from the environmental agency and the public order office.

Immediate measures were jointly determined and initiated. Neptune Energy's environmental analysis team immediately carried out measurements on site and was able to confirm that it was mercury. A specialised company immediately began removing the mercury. The public order office cordoned off the access roads. Investigations in the laboratory and on site are still ongoing to determine which area is contaminated with mercury.

The source of the contamination is currently unknown. No work has been carried out by our company or our service providers in the affected area in recent months, nor was the access road in question used by Neptune Energy or our service providers, nor were there any mining facilities at the contaminated site. Together with the responsible authorities, a comprehensive clarification of the incident has been initiated, in which we are supporting the authorities. We will provide transparent information as soon as further reliable findings are available.

There is a risk to humans from mercury if mercury-containing vapours are inhaled from the air. The measurements at the contaminated site did not detect any mercury concentration in the air.

Neptune Energy is one of the leading raw materials companies in Germany. With over 135 years of experience, we secure supplies for industry and society. Our goal: Today we produce what counts tomorrow. Around 480 employees in many regions of Germany and at our headquarters in Hanover are involved in three key areas of activity

Base - Gas & Oil: safe and reliable production of domestic energy raw materials

Balance - Plugging and abandonment: taking responsibility for the past and restoring nature

Boost - New Energy: actively shaping the future, for example with lithium from Germany

This is how we combine experience with progress. Neptune Energy's revenue in the 2024 financial year was €440 million. The total annual production of gas and oil was 5.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).