Conditions of Huge Desalination Project to Soon Be Decided

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published August 5, 2008 at 10:15 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

The California Coastal Commission is expected to decide Wednesday morning whether to approve conditions for the construction of the largest desalination project in the country. Poseidon Resources want

The California Coastal Commission is expected to decide Wednesday morning whether to approve conditions for the construction of the largest desalination project in the country. Poseidon Resources wants to build the plant in Carlsbad. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The Coastal Commission approved the construction permit last November but added two conditions.

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Scott Maloni with Poseidon Resources says the company agreed to the conditions.

Maloni : And those two conditions deal with greenhouse gas emissions and minimizing impacts to marine life.

The company proposes to restore 37 acres of marine wetlands to offset any potential affect to local marine life.

Poseidon also plans to take measures to offset greenhouse gas emissions.

But some environmental groups say the plans to offset emissions and harm to marine life isn't good enough.

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Gabriel Solmer with San Diego Coastkeeper says improving other areas doesn't compensate for damage at the Carlsbad location.

Solmer : We can't just think of this as one more project to net out the impacts we actually have to reduce those impacts and not just cover them up.

Poseidon's Maloni says construction of the plant could start next year and water could be delivered to homes in the region by 2011.

But environmental groups have indicated they may take legal action to keep the plant from being built.

It would produce 50 million gallons of drinking water a day by converting seawater sucked in through pipes.

Poseidon still needs approval for a public land lease before construction could begin.

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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