California Coastal Commission staff has determined Poseidon Resources’ application for a Coastal Development Permit is complete, clearing the way for a hearing on Poseidon’s proposed seawater desalination plant in Huntington Beach. The proposed Huntington Beach Desalination Project would create 50 million gal of drinking water per day. Construction is underway in Carlsbad for a similar desalination project.
The Coastal Commission hearing on the Coastal Development Permit (CDP) 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.”
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, 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).
“The unprecedented quantity and breadth of information requested by Commission staff and provided by Poseidon combined with the experience from the Commission’s approval of our Carlsbad desalination project has resulted in improvements to the Huntington Beach project,” Maloni said. “We have incorporated a number of project elements recommended by Commission staff to ensure the project minimizes energy consumption and protects the coastal and marine environments. Poseidon looks forward to the Commission’s consideration of the Huntington Beach project’s CDP.”
Source: Poseidon Resources
