HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA, June 14, 2013 -- Poseidon Resources' application for a Coastal Development Permit of a proposed seawater desalination plant in Huntington Beach, Calif., is complete, determined by California Coastal Commission staff.
The Huntington Beach Desalination Project would create 50
million gallons of
drinking water per day, and construction is also
underway in
Carlsbad for a similar Poseidon desalination project.
The Coastal Commission hearing on the Coastal Development
Permit will be in October or November, Commission staff told
Poseidon officials. The CDP is the last permit required for
construction of the privately funded project.
"Poseidon appreciates Commission staff's extensive due
diligence in processing our CDP application," said Poseidon
Resources' Vice President Scott Maloni. "The process has
been extremely thorough, with commission staff providing
input on the project to Poseidon and other permitting
agencies on no less than a dozen occasions, and Poseidon
providing staff with many detailed submissions and with
voluminous information based on a decade of
environmental and technical studies conducted by
industry experts and leading scientists."
Getting Commission staff to deem the application complete is
a major milestone. In August 2006, Poseidon filed its
application for a CDP with Commission staff. During the
process, Poseidon provided the staff a thorough analysis of
the project and its consistency with Coastal Act policies,
based on more than a decade of environmental research and
study. In 12 separate submittals, Poseidon covered issues
related to the need for the project and its relationship to
existing
water conservation and
water management plans, marine and coastal environments,
land use, growth inducement, public access and health and
welfare, power plant operations, project mitigation and
alternatives, project economics, plant ownership and
operation, product water purchase agreements, tsunami and
sea level rise hazards and energy use and production.
The Coastal Commission approved a Coastal Development Permit
for Poseidon's Carlsbad desalination project in 2007. Based
on the Coastal Commission's handling of the Carlsbad
project's permit, Poseidon has offered to include several
mitigation plans as conditions to the Huntington Beach
project's CDP. These mitigation measures include a Marine
Life Mitigation Plan (MLMP), Energy Minimization &
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan (GHG Plan) and Seismic,
Tsunami and Flood Design Mitigation and Emergency Response
Plan (Hazard Plan).
With the future of imported water strained due to fragility
of the Colorado River and Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta
Delta -- both critical components in Southern California's
current water supply -- desalination offers a drought-proof
local supply to shore up the reliability of Orange County's
local and regional water supplies.
"Seawater desalination will be a critical component of
Orange County's future water supply, and the determination
by the Coastal Commission staff that the permit application
is complete is welcome news given the water supply situation
in Southern California," said Brett Barbre, board member of
the Municipal Water District of Orange County and
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
"Approval of the project by the Coastal Commission this year
is necessary to ensure the timely integration of this
important new water supply."
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