From Marina Horack, an R4RD board member:
Here's a report on the Oct 30 State Lands Commission hearing on the issue of Poseidon leases in Carlsbad. R4RD had a busload of members who went to San Diego to represent us at the hearing.
Who: State Lands Commission
What: Hearing on state leases for Poseidon in Carlsbad
Where: Port of San Diego
When: Tuesday, October 30, 10:00 AM
Attendees: Who's Who of San Diego and Carlsbad elected officials, chamber of commerce reps, contractors, Poseidon executives, etc
What Happened: When the Residents for Responsible Desalination bus arrived at the Port of San Diego building, shortly before the State Lands Commission meeting was to start, R4RD members found themselves walking through a crowd of Poseidon executives and San Diego officials. There was even a German-speaking man with a briefcase (a multi-national water company executive?)
In a sea of expensive dark pin-striped suits, we were noticed because we were all wearing white R4RD T shirts, which really stood out in the crowd. People were asking who we were. The meeting room was very small and, unfortunately, the pro-Poseidon army had already taken over all the seating in the room. R4RD people had to sit outside the hearing room and watch the proceedings over closed curcuit television.
It was announced early on that the commission would not vote on the Poseidon lease request at the meeting. The likely decision time will be at the next SLC meeting in December, probably in Sacramento.
Chairman John Garamandi got right down to business and the Poseidon hearing started very quickly. About 75 people had signed up to speak for the public comments. First up was San Diego Mayor Jerry Saunders, then a couple of SD state senators. All 3 praised Poseidon.
Next was the Poseidon presentation which was not impressive,
especially when Chairman Garamandi started to question Poseidon on
their carbon emissions. Throughout, Garamandi insisted that the
Poseidon must be carbon neutral. He asked WHERE would the promised
mitigation, the 37-acre restored wetland, be? During this round of
questioning, the Poseidon executive hemmed and hawed, stammered, and
said the details "have not been fully developed." Garamandi also asked
what Poseidon would do when the power plant quits using once through
cooling. Again, no clear answer.
Commissioner John Chang also asked
some pointed questions about the excessive energy expenditure of desal.
(Then there was a 7 minute break.)
When the meeting started again, Chairman Garamandi said that SLC had received 1400 e-mails from people opposing the Poseidon project, so he would allow the Poseidon opposition equal time. He thanked Surfrider and Coastkeeper for agreeing to consolidate their presentations in the person of attorney Marco Gonzales.
Mr.Gonazles' presentation was a dynamic and welcome contrast to the slow, plodding, and boring Poseidon presentation. He spoke at a breathtaking speed since he had so much to say. [Our donut-addled brains had to race to keep up with his words.] Gonzales spoke of the Poseidon myth of carbon neutrality, the once through cooling (OTC) problems of impingement and entrainment, the massive loss of fish and marine life ( especially the microscopic plankton which is the basis of the food chain).
He said:
*The law requires Poseidon to use the Best Technology Available (BTA), which is closed cycle cooling;
*Cost does not offset the need to use BTA;
*Mitigation by restoring wetlands is an unacceptable response;
*Once Through Cooling is not feasible according to the courts;
*Because of the changes, a new EIR is needed with the State Lands Commission as lead agency.
Then it was time for comments from individuals: The next couple of hours of comments were mainly from 45 San Diego & Carlsbad local officials, people from chambers of commerce, tourist bureaus, building trades, construction firms, farmers, bankers, and taxpayers association reps who supported the project. One official's main concern seemed to be his ability to water his lawn!
Potshots were leveled against Marco Gonzales, because his presentation was so effective, and so dangerous to the Poseidon plan. There was no indication from any of the San Diego speakers that any of them had ever heard of Tampa Bay.
The serious problems of antiquated OTC technology, the energy costs, the carbon footprint, the marine life kill: these were seen by most of the local speakers as only minor issues that could be quickly solved by their new darling - Poseidon. They all seemed to assume that Poseidon would produce all the drinking water they needed flowing to all of San Diego within months of approval.
No one questioned whether the Poseidon project could fail. All of San Diego was snookered by Poseidon! Poseidon did its propaganda sweep through the entire county brilliantly. Too bad they didn't spend as much money, time and effort on their technology.
R4RD's TURN: Merle Moshiri - came up to the podium and caused quite
a stir when she brought up Poseidon's FAILURE in Tampa Bay and the
issue of PRIVATIZING water.
Even some of the SLC and staff seemed to
be unfamiliar with Poseidon's mis-adventure in Tampa Bay. Conner
Everett spoke. Then some 20 R4RD attendees spoke, among them: Milt
Dardis - on Poseidon's 2 contractor companies going bankrupt in Tampa
Bay;
By now it was 3:30 PM. We had not eaten any lunch (there was not lunch break!) and we had a two hour freeway trip ahead of us, so we finally departed the fair city of San Diego. We went home satisfied that we had done our civic duty.
THANK YOU to SURFRIDER FOUNDATION and especially JOE GEEVER for all your support! [One of the highlights of the day was seeing JOE GEEVER looking very businesslike in a suit and tie...where are cameras when you need them?]
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