MAILBAG - June 14, 2007

Why outsource desalination project?

I was in support of this until now. I am not in support of outsourcing to Israeli Desalination and Engineering Technologies (“H.B. closer to water plant,” June 7). We have plenty of U.S.-based desalination companies that could engineer this project and yet we are going to outsource! Desalination is a great idea but I am no longer supporting this project until we have an all-U.S. team.

SHAUN GUERTIN

Huntington Beach

Privatizing water has never worked

The city should definitely hold off on hiring any engineers until the Coastal Commission hearing of this desalination plant is held.

Here are some facts about the desalination plant for Huntington Beach:

1. Poseidon will take 100 million gallons a day of ocean water from the AES plant, clean up and keep 50 million gallons and send the other 50 million gallons, now containing more salt and chemicals used in the cleaning process, back to the AES outfall plant and from there returned to the ocean.

2. This desalination plant will be the largest in North America. Today the city gets 66% of its water from city ground wells and 34% of its water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Costs are calculated based on acre foot, and each acre foot contains 325,851 gallons of water.

Groundwater costs the city $297 an acre foot and the water district’s water costs the city $495 an acre foot. Desalinated water’s cost is unknown but is estimated to be between $2,000 to $3,000 a square acre foot. The city doesn’t need nor can we afford this desalinated water.

3. Privatizing water has never worked for the good of the people and water should not be privatized.

Can any of us stop it now? The Coastal Commission is our last hope.

EILEEN MURPHY

Huntington Beach

Benefits outweigh negative effects

It is very important for Poseidon to move ahead with preparations for installing a desalination plant in Huntington Beach (“H.B. closer to water plant,” June 7). Yes, there may be some minor environmental impacts from the plant, but the environmental benefits far outweigh the negative effects. Water is a serious concern in Orange County, and the efforts to get enough water have negative impacts on the entire Western region from Mono Lake to Arizona and the Rio Grande river. If we can obtain a safe, local, adequate supply of water through the help of the Poseidon plant then the entire region will benefit. We encourage Poseidon to move forward, and we encourage the local city council, local environmental officials, and others to consider the overall regional benefits that Poseidon offers.

DAVID AND GALE LICATA

Huntington Beach

Plan for the future; support desalination

Regarding the proposed Poseidon desalination plant, letter writer John F. Scott wrote: “In December of 2001, Poseidon’s main contractor failed to post a required construction bond for the project. On May 15, 2002, Tampa Bay Water decided it was in its benefit to buy Poseidon’s interest.” (“Poseidon’s history shows its true colors,” Mailbag, June 7). This is accurate, however, one need only to go back three months, to Sept. 11, 2001, to know why that financial difficulty occurred. Those were hard times for many corporations and industries.

Then, as Mr. Scott referred to, Tampa Bay Water became anxious and made a fatal mistake; it bought out Poseidon and took over the project when it was only some 30% complete.

Then Mr. Scott wrote: “The Coastal Commission is still waiting for critical information it needs to protect our ocean and coast.” But the fact of the matter is that a desalination plant at the AES site will do no harm to our marine, or coastal environment. According to Scott Jenkins and Jeffery Graham of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, “The science has demonstrated the effects of the desalination facility on the marine environment are benign, and in principle, no different than the effects of natural evaporation.”

So let’s stop all these half-truths and deceptions, and start planning for the future now by approving desalination in Huntington Beach — and all along the Southern California coast, for that matter.

TOM POLKOW

Huntington Beach