Legal News

Desalination plant, given the final go-ahead, still faces uphill from opponents

By Richard Binder

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve permit revisions for the biggest seawater desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere, north of San Diego, which will produce 50 million gallons of drinking water daily, enough for 110,000 households.  The facility will cost $300 million.

The project is to be built beside a power station on a coastal lagoon in the city of Carlsbad by Poseidon Resources, a project developer based in Connecticut.

Environmental activists who have fought the project vowed to appeal this week's decision to state water authorities. They cite the the harm to marine life as a major drawback to desalination.  Marco Gonzalez, a lawyer for opponents, said they would seek court orders to block construction while litigation or their appeal to the state water board was still pending.

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on May 15, 2009 (boomark / email).