Latinxs Show Up at State Lands Commission Meeting to Voice Opposition to Poseidon Desalination Plant
Members of the Latinx community came out on Thursday to attend the State Land Commission meeting in Huntington Beach to oppose the proposed Poseidon desalination plant. They joined other marine life and ocean conservation advocates to send a firm message to the commission that the billion dollar plus project is unnecessary and harmful to the beach community.
Of note, the grassroots led Oak View ComUNIDAD from Huntington Beach presented in front of the commission along with Azul founder Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš expressing their firm opposition to the billion dollar boondoggle. Before the commission meeting began, community members gathered outside to hold a press conference urging the commission to protect the freshwater that we do have and to act in the best interest of the public lands.
We’re not going to sugarcoat things here at Azul. There were Latinxs at the Lands Commission meeting who spoke in favor of the Poseidon project, but there are a few things to keep in mind about those messengers: 1) many of those who purported to speak for the Latinx community have not been involved in ocean conservation issues, 2) none of those who spoke addressed the water pollution violations that Poseidon has racked up at its plant in Carlsbad, and 3) water issues in the Central Valley were brought up omitting the fact that desalination in Huntington Beach is not to alleviate water needs in the valley.
Unfortunately, the State Lands Commission approved amendments to the 2010 environmental impact report on the project, but Poseidon still is has additional hurdles to cross. Orange County is already home to a state of the art water recycling facility that produces water at a fraction of the cost with a fraction of the energy that Poseidon will require to treat the sea water. And the region isn’t even maximizing its rainwater capture efforts.