and Rancho Mission Viejo. 25 mgd, still "paper water", would be used to justify building about 50k new houses for about 125,000 people.

This would be enough to defuse the water argument for Saddle-XXX, RMV, 11000 tract in Orange, 5k in Yorba Linda, 1k in Tonner Canyon, with some left over for housing tracts on top of the Bolsa Chica Mesa.

Whether or not the water is actually delivered or not, it would enable the housing tracts to be built, sticking the Taxpayer with the unfunded liability of supporting infrastructure such as electric, water, gas, road, library, police, park etc.

The "growth inducing" downside of this "Poseidon" adventure was not even considered by HB. The question was never answered, "what's in it for HB? What's in it for any one?".

Defeating the desal plant in HB would force "Poseidon" to attack some other inlet/outfall. But, with the image of Dave Garafolo looking down, and the replacement for the latest HB pol felled by conflict of interest scandals sitting on the PC, and the clever, but apparently perfidious Ron Davis leading the charge, HB fell victim to yet another destructive, senseless project.

What can be wrong with a desal plant, you ask? What is wrong with never-ending growth, what's wrong with formalizing the permits for the noxious AES power plant, forcing them to stay open even if obsolete, forcing them to keep their outfall running? What is wrong with the massive bacteria counts in the outfall and input? What's wrong with injecting super-pure water into aged HB pipes, potentially leaching toxins, lead and filth into the tap?

Little known facts: AES, and now "Poseidon", are permitted to inhale and exhale 126 mgd of salt water, once needed as cooling for the steam plant. Newer technology makes this obsolete, but AES is sitting there on the permits, and now, "Poseidon" has an easement allowing them to piggy back on top of those permits soo. So HB will be forever stuck with the AES plant.

The 126 mgd input has two problems for sea creatures: IMPALEMENT, where they are impaled on the grid that sucks in the water, and then scraped off and hauled to the dump; and ENTRAINMENT, which means making it past impalement and getting sucked into the pumps. The city assumes 100% mortality of creatures sucked in there, but lovingly states that "...some make it through..." although not in the shape when they started out.

Each and every one of these obsolete inlet-outfall setups can really be viewed as a sort of mincing machine for sea creatures of all sort. This is one more hazard killing off parts of the web of life that formerly made the Coast live. If you ever wonder what happened to our big fish: perhaps as babies they were sucked into the impalement or entrainment issues.

Now, this mincing machine has been made permanent and forever, if "Poseidon" succeeds. Even if MWD subsidies are not enough, and, like their one working plant in Florida, Taxpayer takes over operation, it will just be used as an excuse for over-development.

The three good Planning Commissioners:

Commissioner Dingwall, Commissioner Kokal, Commissioner Ray

put up a trenchant, determined defense in a doomed battle against their own city staff, who supported the developers at every turn, the 4 bad commissioners (led by Davis and Stanton), and a phalanx of well-heeled suits, their biostitutes, advisors, syncophants and entourage (there were about 12 locals who supposedly came on their own to argue for the desal -- like it was unprompted!).

Kokal pointed out that the outfall spews high bacteria count, allegedly from some "urban runoff", together with minced-up sea creatures, into the very area where some complain about beach closures due to high bacteria count. Thermal pollution in the San Gabriel River Estuary from the Los Cerritos steam plants "cook" bacteria, multiplying the hazard, leading to permanent warning signs against fecal bacteria. No one seems to have considered this possibility, that the effluent from the giant AES HB outfall could be basically a big petrie dish cooker for bacteria and other filth.

Think of two futures:

One, the coast is armored with dozens of killer desal plants, such as "Poseidon", seawall mansions, industrial plants. There is a dearth of fish, who have no protected birthing for their roe, and a multitude of chemical, impalement and other perils for any sea life daring to survive. And hordes of inland folks queue up their turn, brief access to a tiny public beach where they are allowed to see the Ocean;

Two, eventual removal of obsolete plants like AES and toxid dumps like ascon nesi, preservation of the coast, reversion of some structures to habitat, and enough Beach, Coast and River to support recreational uses without trampling what's left.

Davis, Stanton and HB Planning Commission have chosen the former. The people, led by Dingwall, Kokal, and Ray, would prefer the latter.

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At the Huntington Beach Planning Commission study session, Tues., July 8, 5:15 P.M.:
Several opponents of the desalination process did not know they could lecture the Commission in this "work session" prior to the televised meeting. The lesson is that you are INVISIBLE unless you fill out a "request to speak" form, and at least get up at the podium. Just think what fools they make of themselves, you can't do worse if you speak for the speechless. I was the lone speaker, starting with their "study" of the conversion of a school to a Lowe's complex. This failure of the planning process betokens a larger failure on even more important issues, and shows the limits of CEQA:
1-CEQA allows public comment, but often, issues raised are ignored;
2-Bad effects of a project that are "unmitigateable" are allowed under a "statement of over-riding" benefits to the community. But often, those "benefits" are just to the developer. Asked them to consider the "un-development" of areas of the Coast now industrialized, and how we need to step back from the Coast, retaining things of the land on the land -- no outfalls.
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More later on the 7:00 P.M. Planning Commission meeting itself. This issue is going to take a LOT of work, and a LOT of public outrage at the perhaps over-facile majority on the Planning Commission.

/Doug

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