2022/May
From ActCoastal
| Year | 2022 |
|---|---|
| Month | May |
| Location | Costa Mesa |
| Description | The May Coastal Commission meeting took place in Costa Mesa on May 11-13. The meeting included the much anticipated vote on the Brookfield-Poseidon Huntington Beach Desalination Plant as well as a critical enforcement issue in Pacific Palisades, an update on the state’s Sea Level Rise Action Plan and a vote on coastal armoring in San Clemente. This meeting resulted in one vote chart - the Brookfield-Poseidon desalination agenda item. |
Issues voted on at this Meeting
Click on an issue to read full description
| Issue | Summary | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Brookfield-Poseidon Huntington Beach Desalination Plant | On Thursday, the Coastal Commission voted in concurrence with the staff recommendation to deny the Brookfield-Poseidon Huntington Beach desalination plant. Poseidon proposed to construct and operate a seawater desalination plant using open ocean seawater intake pipe to produce 50 million gallons per day of potable water - what would be one of the largest in the nation. The proposed location was the site of existing power plant and within the Huntington Beach wetlands complex. Project opponents argued that it was not needed in Orange County and would only make the water rich, richer and significantly drive up water rates, posing a serious environmental justice concern. The staff report recommended denial based on potential environmental justice concerns as well as enormous and unjustifiable energy use. The plant would have also had devastating impacts to marine life, which the staff report points out were unable to be mitigated due to practical considerations over the scale of wetland creation that would be necessary. Commissioners unanimously denied the project. | 
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