HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.—Supporters of a desalination plant in Huntington Beach Monday warned that a Coastal Commission rejection of the decades-long planned project would sound a “death knell” for any other plant of its kind.
Coastal Commission staff rejected the plant for approval when it is scheduled for consideration for final approval next month. The proposal has been working its way through various regulatory agencies for two decades.
“This projects raises significant and complex coastal protection policy issues under both the Coastal Act and the city’s (Local Costal Program), including conformity with policies that require protection of marine life, water quality, environmentally sensitive habitat areas, and policies meant to avoid or minimize hazards associated with sea level rise, floods, tsunamis, and geological hazards,” the staff wrote in its report.
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