by The Editors on May 12, 2010
by The Editors on April 25, 2010
The Surfrider Foundation has definitely not thrown in the town on their opposition to the Poseidon Resources Desalination Plant scheduled to be built in the shores of Carlsbadistan’s Agua Hedionda Lagoon.
The environmental group filed a lawsuit on Earth Day (April 22, 2010) challenging a permit approved by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. Surfrider says that the “facility would kill countless marine organisms, with an illegal plan to replace these fish and other marine life through a restoration project somewhere else.”
“When the law says you must ‘minimize the intake and mortality’ of marine life, that doesn’t mean you can kill millions of marine organisms and then try to replace them somehow,” said Joe Geever, Surfrider Foundation’s California Policy Coordinator. “The Regional Water Quality Control Board misinterpreted the law, and it’s unfortunate the project has progressed this far without a final decision on the type of intake and facility design that meets California’s law to protect our precious marine environment.”
According to Michael Burge story in the San Diego Union-Tribune this is one of six lawsuits that have been filed regarding Poseidon’s plans for the lagoon. Three are still progress.
For the entire Surf Rider release, follow the jump or click here for Carlsbadistan’s coverage of the entire saga.
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by The Editors on February 24, 2010
Gulp, gulp, gulp. . .
Just a little reminder from the Carlsbad Municipal Water District: thanks for being nice and conserving more than the eight percent that was requested. You know, the water has a long journey to get here and we should treat it well.
Carlsbad relies on water from the Colorado River and Northern California for 100 percent of its supply. California has faced severe water shortages due to a prolonged drought and legal restrictions on water pumped from Northern California. Recent local rain doesn’t help much because most of it runs off into the ocean and cannot be captured for future use.
Thanks, Northern California. Come visit anytime.
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by The Editors on February 10, 2010
In a meeting today the Coast Law Group requested that the California Coastal Commission revoke a Poseidon Resources building permit because the company failed to correctly represent the greenhouse gas emissions from their desalination plant. The Coastal Commission rejected the request, according to a Bradley Fikes story in the North County Times.
Poseidon said it had not misled the commission, and that there was no reason to revoke the permit.
Apparently, the Coastal Commission takes Poseidon at their word. So there.
[Link: North County TImes]
by The Editors on January 28, 2010
Poseidon Resources Corp, the company that plans to build the desalination plant on the Agua Hedionda lagoon say they were just approved for $530 million in tax exempt bonds from the State of California, according to a story in the North County Times.
The Private Activity Bonds were approved by the California Debt Limitation Allocation Committee. These bonds are used to finance private projects judged to benefit the public. . . Peter MacLaggan, Poseidon’s senior vice president, said in a statement that the bonds’ tax-exempt status means they can sell for a lower interest rate than taxable bonds, lowering the cost of the desalinated water to the buyers.
Isn’t it nice when the Government helps private business?
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on December 11, 2009
On his blog Aguanomics Economist and Wantrup Fellow at UC Berkeley David Zetland, PhD has an interesting take on the Poseidon Resources desalination plant.
While he points out that there are many people who worry about Poseidon’s track record, or the fact that they’re asking for $550 million in tax-favored public bonds, or that the $700 million plant will cost tax payer more than the “promised price” what has Zetland most worried is the Carlsbad Municipal Water District.
Although these things concern me,** I worry more about Poseidon’s partner, Carlsbad MWD, which has the dubious honor of being the least-competent manager of wastewater in the State. . . .With partners like that, I wonder if Poseidon is really facing a worthy contractual partner that can push back when/if push comes to shove. (This is especially relevant given Poseidon’s friendly relations with local politicians.)
Zetland summarizes by saying: “If Poseidon screws up, will Carlsbad MWD be competent enough to catch them or make sure they pay?” And that is one of the best questions we heard so far.
[Link: Aguanomics]
by The Editors on December 11, 2009
Three enviornmental groups who wanted the California Coastal Commission to revoke a development permit they’d given for Poseidon Resources’ Desalination Plant were denied on Thursday, December 10, 2009, according to a story on KPBS.
The 9-to-3 vote to deny the revocation request came after two hours of testimony at the Coastal Commission meeting in San Francisco. . . “The grounds for revocation are narrow and the Commission cannot reconsider a permit if new information has surfaced after the permit has been issued, no matter how compelling that information may be,” Coastal Commission Deputy Director Alison Detmer told commissioners during the meeting.
Poseidon Resources is obviously happy and the Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Coastkeeper and the Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation have simply filed another revocation request.
[Link: KPBS]
by The Editors on November 29, 2009
Garry Brown, executive director of Orange County Coastkeeper compares the difference in water cost between a Ground Water Replenishment System operating in Orange County with the cost of water per acre foot from Poseidon Resources‘ proposed Carlsbadistan desalination plant in an editorial for the Daily Pilot.
The total cost of the highly treated [GWRS] drinking water is less than $800 per acre foot. . . We know that ocean desalination is used throughout the world. The costs per acre foot range between $2,000 and $3,000. There is certainly no reason to believe it can be done for less money in Southern California.
He goes on to point out that the only other desalination plant that Poseidon has built went “$40 million over budget, five years late, and has never produced the promised amount of water. In fact, “Poseidon had to be removed from plant operations and replaced by a public agency.” Oddly, the Tampa Bay plant isn’t even listed on the “our experience” page of Poseidon’s website. The only desal plants they list are the as-yet-unbuilt Carlsbad and Huntington Beach facilities.
All of this makes us ask this question: is Poseidon’s real business making drinking water or simply using the promise of water as a means of extracting money from public agencies?
[Link: Daily Pilot]
by The Editors on November 26, 2009
That’s the question San Francisco Bay Guardian writer Rebecca Bowe asks in one of the best stories we’ve read about Poseidon Resources plans for their desalination plant on the Aqua Hedionda Lagoon.
“Aside from doing nothing about conservation and continuing to require huge amounts of energy for transmission, these plants also have no real community benefit, minimal job creation, and, most importantly, a questionable success and effectiveness,” members of Service Employees International Union Local 721 wrote in a letter to the Metropolitan Water District, Southern California’s water wholesaler. “We believe we can conserve more water by installing waterless urinals across L.A. County than we would obtain from the proposed desalination plant.”
Those who think they know what this desalination plant is all about should click the link to read the rest of this story.
[Link: San Francisco Bay Guardian]
by The Editors on November 6, 2009
According to a report releassd on November 4, 2009 by the consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch, the cost of water from Poseidon’s proposed Carlsbadistan desalination plant could cost three times as much as the company has projected.
“Poseidon claims that their Carlsbad desalination water will come at ‘no expense to the region’s taxpayers,’ yet they are counting on Metropolitan Water District ratepayers and taxpayers to underwrite the project,” said Renee Maas, water program organizer for Food & Water Watch. “Policymakers should learn from Poseidon’s failed Tampa Bay facility and only use public funds for effective and responsible projects.”
According to James Fryer, the author of the new report even if things go well costs could still reach $1910 per acre-foot which is twice the $950 claimed by Poseidon.
Cost over-runs and bankruptcy marked Poseidon’s previous foray into the desalination business. The Tampa Bay plant opened over a year behind schedule, and then required immediate rehabilitation. As a result, he project ran 44 percent over projected capital cost and has never produced the 25 MGD originally promised by Poseidon.
Hurray for desal. . . to read the entire report, click here for the PDF.
[Link: Common Dreams]
Few writers have pulled together a better overview of the entire Poseidon Resources Carlsbad Desalination Plant story than the DC Bureau’s Janet Wilson.
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