Coastal Commission Denies Attempt to Revoke Carlsbad Desalination Permit

San Diego, CA – The California Coastal Commission today voted to dismiss a request filed by opponents of seawater desalination to revoke the Carlsbad Desalination Project’s Coastal Development Permit (CDP). The vote marked the second time in as many months that the Commission rejected an attempt by a handful of opponents to revoke the permit issued to the project in November 2007. The Commission has now voted five times since 2007 to affirm its support for the Carlsbad Desalination Project.

Numerous supporters testified and/or submitted letters on behalf of the project, including the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which refuted opponents’ claims that Poseidon intentionally misrepresented and/or omitted material information from the Commission when it approved the Energy Minimization and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan in August 2008.
“Poseidon would like to thank the members of the Coastal Commission for rejecting yet another frivolous attempt to obstruct the ongoing construction of the Carlsbad Desalination Project,” said Poseidon Resources’ Vice President Scott Maloni. “We are also grateful to the California Air Resources Board for acknowledging our unprecedented and voluntary commitment to make the desalination project the first large-scale infrastructure project in the state to be net carbon neutral,” said Maloni.
The permit revocation request marked the tenth legal challenge brought against the desalination project by a small handful of seawater desalination opponents led by environmental litigator Marco Gonzalez. All legal challenges heard to date have been dismissed.
“We hope opponents will reconsider their choice to obstruct the project’s inevitable startup and instead opt to work with us in a constructive manner to ensure the project reaches its promise as the most technologically advanced, energy efficient and environmentally-friendly seawater desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere,” said Maloni.
Since 1998, Poseidon has worked in partnership with the City of Carlsbad, Valley Center Municipal Water District, Sweetwater Authority, Santa Fe Irrigation District, City of Oceanside, Rincon del Diablo Municipal Water District, Olivenhain Municipal Water District, Rainbow Municipal Water District and the Vallecitos Water District to build the desalination plant, which will have the capacity to produce 50-million-gallons-per-day of high quality drinking water and serve 300,000 residents annually. Phase I of project construction started in November 2009. During the two and half-year construction and start up, the project will create 2,100 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic stimulus. The facility is scheduled to be operational in 2012.
Poseidon Resources specializes in developing and financing water infrastructure projects, primarily seawater desalination and water treatment plants. These projects are implemented through innovative public-private partnerships in which private enterprise assumes the developmental and financial risks.

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