Surf City has done its part

Drinking water is a finite resource, and one that is in grave

jeopardy of running out.

While a solution to our ever-shrinking supply is sorely needed,

Poseidon’s proposed desalination plant on Surf City’s coastline is

not the answer.

It is a problem that cannot be ignored, a problem to which a

solution is needed, but Huntington Beach does not have to be the

answer. Huntington Beach has done more than its share in shouldering

the burden for California and Orange County. It is home to the AES

power plant, which provides power to a broad area while Surf City

residents bear the sight and billowing black smoke.

It is home to the Orange County Sanitation District and its

outfall pipe, where waste for a large part of the county goes to be

treated and dumped off Surf City’s coastline.

Now Poseidon Resources Corp. proposes that a desalination plant be

built next to AES, up the road from the sanitation district. But Surf

City has done its part, and its beaches and residents have suffered

enough.

It is time to let someone else be the guinea pig. Research is

still underway on desalination and its effects on the ocean, water

quality and marine life. There are other plants in California,

Florida and Alaska but it is still too soon to know the true

consequences of those plants.

The ocean water at that end of the city is already among the most

contaminated in the state, frequently closed for high levels of

bacteria. Taking the salt out of that water won’t make it potable and

regurgitating extra salinity and whatever else won’t improve beach

conditions.

While it may seem like a perfect fit to the Poseidon folks, with

AES already sucking in millions of gallons of water, it does not at

all seem like a perfect fit for the city.

It is time to give Surf City residents a break -- especially those

in the south. A topic dump, power plant and sanitation district are

quite enough for one neighborhood.

City officials need to look out for the city’s best interest and

tell Poseidon to find another guinea pig. No property tax will be

worth what a desalination plant potentially could bring.

The city is trying to promote Huntington Beach as a resort

vacation destination and another industrial plant won’t help that

image any.