Environmentalists May Challenge Desal Project Approval

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published November 16, 2007 at 12:00 PM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

The California Coastal Commission voted last night to approve the largest desalination project in the country. Poseidon Resources says it's now on track to build the $300 million plant in Carlsbad

The California Coastal Commission voted last night to approve the largest desalination project in the country. Poseidon Resources says it's now on track to build the $300 million plant in Carlsbad next year. But environmental groups may challenge the project in court. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The company says it will convert seawater to 50 million gallons of drinking water each day.

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Poseidon VP Peter Maclaggan says construction of the plant could start next year and water could be delivered to users by 2010. But environmental groups may try to block those plans.

Mark Massara, director of the Sierra Club's California Coastal Program , on the chances for a legal challenge.

Massara : I'd say it's a virtual certainty given the massive unaddressed questions and information inadequacies that are still associated with the project."

He says Poseidon needs to do more studies to determine how the plant's operations would affect the marine habitat. Coastal commission staff recommended commissioners reject the project. They say the plant's electricity use would increase greenhouse gas emissions -- and Poseidon's plan to offset those emissions isn't good enough.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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