For Immediate Release
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Media Contacts
Lucila Garcia, 323-646-2150 (English, Español)
Betsy López-Wagner, 708-717-9408
Stop Poseidon Coalition Presents California Coastal Commission with Comprehensive Report on Ramifications of the Proposed Brookfield-Poseidon Desalination Plant in Anticipation of Staff Report Announcement
The coalition cites a decade’s worth of evidence and research in their briefing report
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA (April 19, 2022) – The California-based ‘Stop Poseidon’ coalition comprised of environmental justice, coastal and ocean conservation groups, sent the California Coastal Commission a comprehensive report, Briefing Book: Opposition to the Proposed Brookfield-Poseidon Huntington Beach Seawater Desalination Plant, on Tuesday. The report contains more than a decade’s worth of evidence and research disproving the analysis set by Brookfield-Poseidon that the desalination plant is a necessity.
“The coalition has not wavered in our opposition to the proposed Brookfield-Poseidon Desalination Plant as set forth now or over the last two decades,” said Stop Poseidon member Andrea León-Grossmann, Director of Climate Action at Azul. “As we await the California Coastal Commission hearing and its Staff Report, we believe that the Commission’s staff and the public need enough time to read through our extensive and critical report which provides factual and nonpartisan information on the severe environmental and social ramifications that the desalination plant would have in our community in Huntington Beach and in all of Orange County.”
“The Stop Poseidon coalition has worked intensively to objectively prove this project is not needed – it has significant environmental impacts on marine habitats, consumes three times the energy, is outrageously expensive, and will raise water rates to those that can least afford it,” said Garry Brown, Founder and President of Orange County Coastkeeper. “After two decades of our opposition to Poseidon’s desalination project, I’m delighted to see it once again before the California Coastal Commission. In 2013, the Commission declined to approve Poseidon’s permit application after a thorough review. Now that it is before the California Coastal Commission again in 2022, we believe they should vote to deny it. Orange County already has a solution for our future water needs, which does not include Brookfield-Poseidon.”
The Briefing Book: Opposition to the Proposed Brookfield-Poseidon Huntington Beach Seawater Desalination Plant contains multiple Fact Sheets grouped by subject area with coordinating active links. Further, the Table of Contents allows readers to directly access individual Fact Sheets. Each Fact Sheet identifies the preparers of the Fact Sheet – Stop Poseidon coalition members – who are available for further comment and information.
The coalition is made up of Azul, the California Coastkeeper Alliance, California Coastal Protection Network, Orange County Coastkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation.
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ABOUT STOP POSEIDON COALITION
Azul is a grassroots organization working with Latinxs to conserve coasts and oceans. It was founded in 2011 to bring Latinx perspectives and participation to ocean conservation and has long advocated for environmental justice and equity in the state of California, across the nation and at international levels.
California Coastkeeper Alliance represents watershed-focused California Waterkeepers as they fight for drinkable, swimmable, fishable waters for all Californians. It defends and expands California’s protective legislation and strengthens the function of our State Water Board.
California Coastal Protection Network (CCPN) works to uphold the core tenets of the California Coastal Act actively and effectively through policy, advocacy, and collaboration. We accomplish our mission by providing strong leadership to advance California’s 40-year legacy of coastal protection.
Orange County Coastkeeper was founded in 1999 with the mission to protect and promote sustainable water resources that are swimmable, drinkable, and fishable for present and future generations. Orange County Coastkeeper is a member of the International Waterkeeper Alliance, which has 236 different independent programs across 29 countries.
The Surfrider Foundation is dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s ocean, waves and beaches, for all people, through a powerful activist network.