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…]
by The Editors on February 26, 2009
Apparently, Latino’s need water, too, and they want it to come from a desalination plant on Carlsbadistan’s Agua Hedionda Lagoon, according to a press release issued today by Poseidon Resources.
On December 23, fourteen members of the CLWC joined Poseidon for an informational briefing and tour of the desalination pilot plant in Carlsbad. . . . “Water is a critical and defining issue for all Californians. Poseidon Resources’ desalination plant is one of the life support systems that California is going to need in order for us to meet the needs of the future,” said Paul Rodriguez. “Our state is going to need these plants and I’m proud to announce that the California Latino Water Coalition has endorsed the Carlsbad Desalination Project.”
Leave it to a comedian from LA to tell us what’s best for our lagoon. How funny is that?
[Link: Digital50.com]
by The Editors on October 11, 2008
We’ve just returned from our first Carlsbad City Council Candidates Forum held this morning at 9 AM in the club house of The Lakeshore Garden’s Mobile Home Park on the southwest corner of Poinsettia and Avenida Encinas.
As we mentioned on our Twitter feed our first reaction was horror. But there is more to it than that. First off, it is amazing to us that the candidates actually show up for these meetings. There were maybe 55 people in the audience (most well over 60 years old) and most were residents of the Lakeshore gardens.
[click to continue…]
by Richard J. Riehl on September 26, 2008
Carlsbad’s mayor, unlike most politicians, doesn’t like to make speeches. Bud Lewis prefers video presentations for his yearly State of the City reports.
They’re undoubtedly more enjoyable than the usual drone of self-congratulations. But I wonder if it’s worth sacrificing substance for entertainment value. Was his latest annual report, delivered last month at the La Costa Resort, just another taste of Bud light?
This year’s 24-minute version, titled “Challenge and Opportunity,” opens with quick-time images of clogged freeways and a bustling downtown. Off-camera voices accompany the frenetic scenes, residents expressing their individual concerns: “We’re runnin’ out of water,” “Don’t allow huge buildings to go in,” “A few of the shops down the street have gone out of business,” “I’m really disappointed at parking fees at Tamarack Beach.”
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on September 19, 2008
We were wrong when we said the Poseidon Resources Inc. desalination plant had cleared it’s last hurdle on August 22, 2008. Now the San Diego Coastkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation have filed a lawsuit in Superior Court “in an attempt to force another review of a proposed seawater desalination plant in Carlsbad,” according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The lawsuit against the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board claims the agency did not ensure the best site, technology and design for the facility. “What we are trying to do is make sure that all of the analysis goes on so that we get the best plant possible,” said Gabriel Solmer, Coastkeeper’s legal director.
We hate to admit it, but we kind of like seeing the project faced with more hurdles.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on August 7, 2008
by The Editors on July 10, 2008
In their efforts to do anything it takes to turn our lagoon into a desalination plant, Poseidon Resources has submitted to more “plans” to the California Coastal Commission on Wednesday, according to a story in the North County Times.
One plan is to reduce the desalination plant’s effect on ocean life. The second is to reduce the energy needed by the plant, which would in turn reduce generation of greenhouse gases. . . The plans were requested by the commission as a condition of approving the project, said Scott Maloni, a Poseidon vice president. . . . The Coastal Commission plans to meet sometime in early August in Oceanside to vote on the plan.
Nice to see Poseidon moving in the right direction.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on June 19, 2008
No, the Encina Power Station is not throwing a birthday party for big people. They are simply using huge 10 green balloons to show the size of the proposed powerplant that would be the next phase of their continued industrialization of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The new plant would replace three of Encina’s five steam-driven turbines, so the old plant and its stack would remain standing for the foreseeable future. . . . NRG raised a group of green balloons this week to show the location and height of the new plant and its 140-foot-high smokestacks.
. . . The gas-powered plant would consist of a two-part electrical generating system. Gas would be burned to drive a turbine that produces electricity; then heat from that process would drive a steam turbine to produce more power.
Apparently, the new plant could need up to “500,000 gallons of water a day to generate electricity from its steam turbines” and to get this water NRG would like to put in it’s own “desalination plant.” They say they can’t use water from the proposed Poseidon desal because that project has yet to get the proper permits.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune. Photo: Regis Weber]
by The Editors on April 10, 2008
According to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board has “approved an environmental protection plan for the desalination plant,” by a vote of 5-2.
The board voted 5-2 yesterday to approve Poseidon’s first draft of its proposed plan but required it to return in six months with more detail on the number of fish killed, its method to minimize those deaths and how it plans to make up for them.
It appears that the California Coastal Commission is not exactly happy with this vote.
The coastal commission’s executive director, Peter Douglas, had asked the regional water board to delay a decision, saying Poseidon’s plan “would create a real or perceived conflict between the Board’s action and the requirements imposed by the Commission.”
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
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