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No On Measure U

• On the northwest corner of Hamilton Ave. & Magnolia St. in Huntington Beach is the ASCON waste dump site, a USEPA and CalEPA toxic superfund clean-up site.

  How did ASCON become a toxic waste dump site?  By and large, we allowed it—despite a minority of voices opposed to it.

  Massive open-ocean intakes (a.k.a. once-through-cooling) were used for cooling nuclear and fossil fuel power generating plants up and down the California coast that were determined to decimate coastal marine life.

  How did this cooling method become so very detrimental to marine life?  By and large, we allowed it—despite a very vocal minority opposed to these open-ocean methods.

  Ill-advised human impacts and unfavorable environmental effects are not subject to the will of the electorate.  Earthquakes, tsunamis, and sea-level rise (SLR) do not care about what, how, or why a majority of humans makes its choices.

  Huntington Beach needs experts and regulatory bodies to protect us and the environment from hazards and negative effects of our actions (allowances).

  HB does not need the judgments of such experts and entities overridden by any election.  All too often the outcome of any election is determined by “money” and/or “monied interests”.

  Measure U would allow elections to decide environmental outcomes.  Thus, overriding the judgments of experts and regulating authorities.  Measure U, if passed, would most assuredly allow repeats of past environmental disasters.

Why R4RD opposes the MTF Development

• Residents for Responsible Desalination (R4RD) was founded in 2005 to oppose the proposed Poseidon Resources seawater desalination project on the Huntington Beach coast. R4RD was also equally concerned about the 20 other such desalination projects proposed at that time for California’s coast.
  
  R4RD was and remains dedicated to coastal protection – just as opposed to the Magnolia Tank Farm development as we were to the Poseidon desalination project.
  
  Here’s why:
  o The actions of the Huntington Beach City Council then and now approved the desalination plant and the development of the Magnolia Tank Farm with the same disregard for coastal protection and with the same goal of exploiting the coastal resources for profit.
  o In 2005-06 the City Council violated its own Local Coastal Program (LCP) by approving Poseidon’s proposal. R4RD, O.C. Coastkeeper, and Surfrider Foundation appealed the city’s approval to the California Coastal Commission (CCC), which determined the City had indeed compromised its LCP.
  o In 2010, the City Council again approved Poseidon’s revised project proposal – once again violating the City’s LCP. And again, that was appealed to the CCC, which sustained our appeal.
  o As to the Magnolia Tank Farm (MTF) development, the City of HB rezoned the site and gave preliminary approval of the project despite that approval’s clear violation, once again, of the city’s own LCP. Sound familiar? The City of HB had advanced a development project by a private company to exploit coastal resources for profit. However, this time the City applied to the CCC for an amendment to its LCP to accommodate the MTF project — as if the amended LCP would mitigate the exploitation!
  
  There are a few more onerous similarities between the Poseidon and MTF projects. Those similarities and one described above are why R4RD opposes the MTF development in the coastal zone. It’s a slam dunk for R4RD.
  Alert: We expect the City’s application for its LCP amendment to be on the November CCC hearings’ agenda. Please stay tuned.

Thanks Everyone For Making it Happen

• California Coastal Commission votes unanimously to deny Poseidon their Coastal Permit.

Poseidon Fact Sheets

• Here are a collection of fact sheets and other important documents regarding Poseidon. The fact sheets include:
  a. Legal Inconsistencies with the Huntington Beach Local Coastal Program and the
  California Coastal Act
  b. Profile of $650B Brookfield Asset Management and Poseidon Water
  c. Carlsbad: A Cautionary Experience
  d. Lack of Need for Poseidon Water and Alternatives
  e. Coastal Hazards: Sea Level Rise, Flooding and Tsunami
  f. Coastal Hazards: Sea Level Rise Simulations and Scenarios
  g. Seismic Hazards
  h. Desalination Facilities as Critical Infrastructure
  i. Climate Change and GHG Emissions
  j. Environmental Justice
  k. Marine Life Impacts: Marine Life Mortality: Entrainment & Toxic Brine
  l. Marine Life Impacts: Impact to MPAs
  m. Inadequate Mitigation for Impacts to Marine Life and Wetlands
  

Coast Commission Staff Recommends Denial

• The staff’s report can be found here.

  Desalination is one of the most energy intensive ways to obtain water, and the project’s energy use would hamper state efforts to cut back on energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The facility would also be in a low-lying, geologically unstable area where sea level rise, flooding, and tsunami and seismic risks are likely to render the site difficult to access or operate in an emergency, or even on a regular basis, in the future.

OCWD Questioning $1.4B+ Project

• Martin Wisckol wrote a good article for the OCR highlighting issues with the project. These include:
  – None of OCWD’s clients want the water.
  – Irvine Water District voted against taking the water.
  – Poseidon is having problems meeting the permitting requirements.
  – A 2018 study showed that the worst case scenario requires only 50% of Poseidon’s water.
  Article can be found here.

Desal Done Right Speeds Through Permits

• As Poseidon, desal done wrong, has to delay again for their permits. Doheny, desal done right, easily gets their first permit. So if you hear Poseidon complain about how difficult it is to permit, just look at Doheny and see how easy it can be when the project is good. OC Register article.
  

Poseidon Delays Coastal Commission Hearing

• Is it:
  – They are poorly managed?
  – They are working on replacing people on the California Coastal Commission?
  – Looking to move the meeting out of the region?
  – Being forced to figure out where the pipeline will go?
  – All the above?
  Here is the latest Newsletter from R4RD.

CCC Mobilization Mondays

• Join Speakers every Monday to get ready for March 17 CCC hearing.

  

  RSVP: keepHBdesalFree@gmail.com

October Update

• R4RD continues its opposition to the Poseidon Water/Brookfield seawater desalination project in HB by preparing for the project’s hearing with the California Coastal Commission (CCC). Though the relevant CCC hearing scheduled for November has been postponed, no future date has been, as yet, set. R4RD must now plan for a December 2021 hearing date, although February 2022 will be more likely. This is due to Poseidon’s unprecedented demands and unprincipled foot-dragging.
  Read more here.

Newsom and Support of Poseidon

• Alejandro Sobrera has a great article about Governor Newsom and why it seems contrary to his goals. Article can be read here.

Timeline of Newsom and Poseidon

• 

Status In Carlsbad

• Great presentation to the CCC by Mandy Sackett

SD Desal Lesson to OC

• Marco Gonzalez has a great commentary in the SD Union Tribune.

  You don’t have to look too far for proof that Poseidon will be an unreliable partner.

California Could Have Stored Abundant Water Underground

• Newsdeeply has a great article about storing water during rainy years.  See it here.

  California has much more potential to store water underground in aquifers than in surface reservoirs. The state should be focused on this opportunity for future years, writes scientist Mohammad Safeeq.

Future of Desal in CA

• Interesting Article by Tony Davis.

  The future of coastal desalination in California could be determined by the decision on permits for a plant in Huntington Beach

The Ocean Isn’t the Answer in California

• Justin Fox posted an article on Bloomberg View about why desal does not make sense.

  Whenever there’s a drought in California, a seemingly obvious source of new water supply beckons. The state abuts a giant ocean. Why not just take the salt out of some of that seawater? It’s the high-tech, forward-looking thing to do, right? It’s also the really expensive thing to do.

  Read more here.

New Stanford Report: Desal Location is Key

• New Report from Stanford highlights the imports that the location of a desalination plant is critical for its overall success.  Key among these are:

  1. Easy access to renewable engine
  2. Ability to use subsurface intake
  3. Availability of other water supplies

  Article can be found here.

Managing Drought: Learning from Australia

• A new report shows strategies developed and mistakes made during Australia’s decade-long millennium drought provide a powerful resource for California, as the state enters its fifth year of severe drought.  The report can be found here.

South OC has little demand for Desal Water

• South Orange County has to import most of their water, but not too interested in expensive desal water.  Orange County Water District General Manager Michael Markus said the South Coast Water District plans to build a plant at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point that was expected to produce 15 million gallons of desalinated water per day.  However, Kennedy said
  

  [Doheny Desal] expected production was cut to 5 million gallons per day because of a lack of interest from surrounding water agencies

  The LA Times article can be found here.