by The Editors on May 8, 2009
In a City of Carlsbad press release the City says that the new NRG Power Plant proposed for land behind the Encina Power Station is “inconsistent with the coastal act.”
A 1990 Coastal Commission report concludes that a second power plant in coastal Carlsbad would harm the environment and is inconsistent with the Coastal Act. . . The report concluded that a power plant on the coastal Carlsbad site would have significant impacts on visual resources, marine biology and air quality. CEC staff evaluating the current power plant proposal were unaware of the Coastal Commission’s previous finding.
Then again, that was way, way back in 1990. Follow the jump for the rest of the release. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on April 27, 2009
On Saturday, April 25, 2009 more than 140 volunteers joined Legoland’s Sea Life Aquarium to clean up Tamarack State Beach as part of the 7th Annual Creek To Bay Clean Up.
“This is the first time we at SEA LIFE Aquarium have done something like this,” said Dirk Westfall, Assistant Curator of SEA LIFE Aquarium and team leader for the cleanup, “and we are thrilled that so many people came out to help with the cleanup. It is good to know that so many people out there are just as passionate about the ocean and the environment as we are.”
Thanks for all the work. It looks nice.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on April 26, 2009
The City of Carlsbad Beach Preservation Committee invites residents to the second annual Carlsbad Beach Fest, Saturday, May 2, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Tamarack/Frazee State Beach and Pine Avenue. The free event will include a beach cleanup, activities for children, live music, sand castle sculptors, a native plant tour and refreshments. Trash and recycling bags will be made available for the cleanup activities. Those interested in the cleanup are requested to bring gloves.
The Carlsbad Beach Fest is sponsored by California State Parks. The Carlsbad Beach Preservation Committee is helping to plan, organize and promote the event. The festival highlights the local coastal and lagoon waterways found within Carlsbad, raises awareness concerning the effects of marine debris and provides an opportunity for residents to participate in a beach cleanup.
Informational and educational event booths will be located on the grassy area adjacent to Pine Avenue and on the beach directly below.
For more information or to volunteer, call (760) 720-7001 or e-mail bketterer@parks.ca.gov.
by The Editors on April 16, 2009
by The Editors on April 16, 2009
Opponents of NRG Energy‘s plans for a second power plant near the shores of Carlsbadistan’s Aqua Hedionda Lagoon gathered at Cannon Park today (April 16, 2009) in the shadow of the Encina Power Station to speak to the media.
News 10, News 8, and writers and photographers from the local papers were present along with approximately 40 citizens to hear people including Carlsbad Councilman Matt Hall, former Councilwoman Julie Nygaard, and Kerry Siekmann (among others) speak out against the new plant.
Siekmann spoke to the fact that SDG&E does not need the power this new plant will produce. In fact, she said, SDG&E hasn’t even contracted with the plant to buy power. Where will it go? Maybe Los Angeles, she said.
“This power can be sold everywhere,” Siekmann said. “But where will the pollution go? Here. So we get 854,000 tons of carbon emissions. We get all the particulate pollution that the American Lung association links to death from respiratory and cardio-vascular causes, increased number of heart attacks, hospitalization for asthma among children, inflammation of lung tissue in young healthy adults just to name a few. We get all the ozone pollution too that the American Lung association says may lead to serious health concerns including premature death, chest pain, inflamation of the lining of the lungs. This is not just about our neighborhood. It’s not just about Carlsbad. It’s about the whole air basin here in San Diego. This is not the right plant, it’s the wrong plant.”
Former City Councilwoman Julie Nygaard agreed. “We should not sit back idly and watch our way of life be diminished,” she said. “In all my years of public service I have never seen a proposal that stands to do as much damage as this one does to our community.”
For more information on the plant and the people who oppose it click the link. Or click here for Barbara Henry’s story in the North County Times.
[Link: Power of Vision Carlsbad]
by The Editors on April 14, 2009
A stretch of private land in Calavera Hills that local residents had hoped the City of Carlsbad would buy and turn into a park has been sold to Thompson Co. of Nevada, according to a story in the North County Times. And the new owner plans to subdivide the 60 acre property.
This has made a group of local residents upset enough to launch an anti-developement website called SaveVillageH.com. And they are blaming the Carlsbad City Council for not honoring the wishes of its own Open Space Committee.
For over ten years, residents around Village H and from elsewhere have done everything they can to lobby the Council and City to preserve the property. SaveVillageH.com, in its original incarnation several years ago, was a focal point for this effort (with much work by PreserveCalavera.org as well). . . .As a result, three Council members now serving who served then (Lewis, Kulchin, and Hall) all expressed a willingness to preserve the land. But despite their Open Space Committee ranking the property as tied for #2 in the entire city (as worthy of acquisition) and despite the landowner making two very low offers to the City (one reportedly only $300,000), the Council — in a legally questionable closed-door session last year — declined to buy the property.
While we believe for the most part that private land owners should be able sell their land to whomever they want it is strange that the City would pass on a parcel that they obviously had interest in. For more info, click the link.
[Link: Save Village H]
by The Editors on April 9, 2009
The Surfrider Foundation’s argument that that California Coastal Commission acted illegally when it failed to “require Poseidon to reduce the amount of fish and marine organisms that would be killed in the desalination process” were rejected today in San Diego Superior Court today, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Judge Judith Hayes issued a tentative ruling rejecting arguments by Surfrider Foundation and the Planning and Conservation League that the California Coastal Commission misapplied state law when it gave Poseidon Resources a coastal development permit to build the plant. . . . Marco Gonzalez, the attorney for Surfrider and the league, said the groups are unhappy with the ruling and believe the court misunderstood some facts. . . “In particular, a large part of the prospective ruling is based on the perception that the project was previously approved by the Regional Board,” Gonzalez said.
One more hurdle out of the way for the for Poseidon Resources and the desalination plant.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on April 8, 2009
The vote has been delayed, however, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board has decided to close the desalination plant hearing “meaning no new evidence or testimony will be considered at the next meeting,” according to a story in the North County Times.
Poseidon Resources Corp., the plant’s prospective builder, made encouraging progress at the hearing, said Scott Maloni, a vice president of the Stamford, Conn.-based company. . . “We think it’s a significant milestone,” Maloni said. “They ended the public debate over the project, and they agreed to come back next month and make a decision. The time delay is insignificant in comparison to the milestone of the public debate coming to a close.”
Writing in the San Diego Union-Tribune Michael Burge said that the plant has been “all but approved” and that the board will “give the project a final green light at a later meeting.”
[Link: North County Times and San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on April 8, 2009
It recently came to light that the number of fish Poseidon Resources‘ proposed desalination plant will kill is actually four to seven times higher than it originally estimated thanks to a math error in their calculations discovered by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board last year, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
But in poring over Poseidon’s study on the number of fish its plant would kill, the board’s staff discovered a math error last year that significantly underestimated the number. . . .When challenged, Poseidon admitted the mistake but said it shouldn’t affect its proposal to create 55.4 acres of new wetlands to compensate for the fish killed. . . “We believe the . . . impacts for the desalination project are de minimis (insignificant), and the impacts can be offset by the 55.4 acres,” said Scott Maloni, Poseidon’s spokesman.
But, of course, that statement makes no sense at all. More damage requires more restoration. Seems pretty simple to us.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on March 30, 2009
The Surfrider Foundation is opposed to the desalination plant that Poseidon Resources wants to put in Carlsbadistan’s Agua Hedionda Lagoon. In an email sent out to members today they said the following:
If Poseidon Resources is granted a final permit on April 8th for the Carlsbad Desalination plant, it will require ENORMOUS AMOUNTS of energy to make new water. If upgraded, the North County and South Bay Water Reclamation plants would require LESS THAN HALF THE AMOUNT of energy to make new water of the same quality – and dramatically reduce discharge of partially treated sewage to our local marine environment. . . Carlsbad Desalination would kill millions of fish and larvae each day. North County and South Bay Water Reclamation plants would kill zero fish and larvae per day.
The Surfrider Foundation is also encouraging everyone to read and sign Surfrider and Coastkeeper’s petition to help prevent Poseidon from building such a wasteful and destructive desalination plant.
Follow the jump for all the details. [click to continue…]
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