Commission to host workshop on desal project

By: BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer | Sunday, December 18, 2005 9:03 PM PST ∞

CARLSBAD ---- The city's Planning Commission will have its first look Wednesday at the massive environmental document that goes with a proposed desalination plant.

Proposed by Connecticut-based company developer Poseidon Resources Corp., the plant would be housed on the Encina Power Station site next to Agua Hedionda Lagoon. Plans call for it to produce upwards of 50 million gallons of drinking water a day.

The environmental paperwork, known as an environmental impact report, is part of the first of many permitting hurdles the project faces.

Wednesday's meeting will give the Carlsbad Planning Commission a chance to ask questions. There will not be any comments taken from the public at the meeting ---- that will happen in mid-January, commission Chairman Jeff Segall said Friday.

"It's kind of a precursor and we've done this in the past when (we had) a complicated hearing," he said.

Produced at a cost of $375,000, the several-hundred-page environmental document was released in its final draft on Dec. 9. It covers everything from water quality concerns to traffic issues. The document also contains 59 public comment letters the city received, as well as the city's itemized response to each letter.

The document is available on the city's Web site at www.carlsbad.ca.gov.

Wednesday's meeting is set to start at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive. The date for the January hearing has not been set, city staff members said.

People who don't want to travel to City Hall can watch Wednesday's meeting in the comfort of their homes. The commission workshop will be televised on Adelphia's community access channel ---- Channel 3.

One agency that's expected to keep an eye on Carlsbad's actions is the San Diego County Water Authority. The current proposal involves a privately built plant that would sell much of its water to the city of Carlsbad, but Poseidon also is in negotiations with the water authority. If those are successful, this project could be dropped in favor of a regional facility, representatives involved in the talks have said.

Contact staff writer Barbara Henry at (760) 901-4072 or bhenry@nctimes.com.

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