An invite to tour the AES plant...

An invite to tour

the AES plant

In several recent Independent newspapers, there were letters to

the editor regarding the proposed Poseidon desalination project. A

couple of these letters also referenced the AES power plant. As the

current general manager of the AES facility, and a resident of

Huntington Beach, I wanted to clarify several common misconceptions

that were mentioned in the letters.

First, the AES power plant burns natural gas -- similar to the gas

that is burned in your home -- not oil as one reader suggested.

Secondly, the visible plume that is often seen coming out the

stacks is steam, not smoke. It is a byproduct of the $11 million in

state-of-the-art emissions-control equipment we have installed at the

facility. Ammonia is injected into the process exhaust gas in the

presence of a catalyst. This technology has helped us reduce our

emissions by approximately 95%. The power plant is responsible for

only .2% of the total emissions in the South Coast air basin. You’re

probably not surprised to hear that the vehicles we drive are

responsible for more than 90% of our air pollution.

Thirdly, the electricity we generate is consumed in California and

not sent out of state. In fact, plants owned and operated by AES in

California are capable of producing almost 10% of the state’s peak

electricity demand.

I know there are different opinions regarding our role in the

community. I am not writing to try to convince anyone to change his

or her mind. The only thing I ask is that people form their opinions

based on an understanding of the facts. The facility is operated by a

dedicated team of 52 people, many of whom live in Huntington Beach,

and we take great pride in the service we provide.

Our children attend the local schools, we swim in the ocean, enjoy

the pier and breathe the same air you do. We do this with confidence,

knowing that we care about the communities where we operate, respect

the environment and produce a product that has become vital to our

well-being.

If anyone is interested in learning more about our facility or in

taking a plant tour, please contact us at (714) 374-1476. We would

love to show you around our home away from home.

ERIC PENDERGRAFT

General Manager

AES Huntington Beach

Tomorrow says no

to Poseidon today

To the Huntington Beach City Council:

Good news! It’s OK to vote against Poseidon!

Over the past several months, the war of words has been going full

tilt between the two sides of the desalination issue. Between the

letters to the editors and Poseidon’s public relations, both sides

have been waging a full-blown assault trying to convince you that you

should either love Poseidon or hate it.

Poseidon also comes up at a time when the whole subject of water

availability for Southern California is finally being talked about

seriously at the county, state and even federal levels. The huge

population growth of California over the past several decades,

coupled with projected future growth, requires a comprehensive plan

for the entire state as the only way to ensure water for all into the

future.

Poseidon is a technically complex project, the environmental

report for which would require a doctorate degree to fully

understand. Short of having an advanced degree in marine biology,

you, the City Council, are placed between those letters to the editor

and Poseidon’s promises. You also have the unavoidable feeling of

responsibility that Huntington Beach’s future is at stake. A sense of

stewardship is a natural part of an authority position such as yours.

Will saying no to Poseidon somehow negatively affect the quality of

life in Huntington Beach for years to come? Is Poseidon the good guy

or the bad guy?

Huntington Beach Tomorrow contends that Poseidon is not what

Huntington Beach needs -- short term or long term.

An important reason Poseidon’s environmental report should be

denied is because it does not address the community’s need for such a

facility. The Municipal Water District of Orange County said that

with conservation and recycling programs such as the Groundwater

Replenishment Program scheduled to be completed next year, this area

will have sufficient water from normal supplies for the next 25

years. The district has also said that large scale desalination makes

sense only in southern Orange County and San Diego County, where

there is no groundwater aquifer such as we sit on top of here.

Additionally, studies are proving that when desalination is

considered, the most effective means of desalination is through

groundwater wells and not directly from the ocean. This allows for a

certain amount of natural filtration to occur and eliminates problems

with ocean life entrapment and entrainment that have long plagued

AES’s ocean intake.

Poseidon has no buyer for its water and no destination for that

water has been identified. The water district has already stated that

it will not allow Poseidon -- or any other private water producer --

to connect to the local water grid without contract in hand from a

buyer. Without a buyer, why approve the plant?

Since the water district has already said it does not want or need

Poseidon’s water, would that not logically infer that Poseidon’s

water will then have significant growth-inducing characteristics

which have not been analyzed and in fact have been trivialized in the

environmental report?

By all accounts, Huntington Beach’s offshore biology is troubled.

The combined affects of urban runoff, sanitation district outfall,

Santa Ana River pollution and other as-yet-unknown problems all

contribute to this. Is it worth adding another set of variables into

that mix, such as higher salinity concentrations and higher

entrainment and impingement counts? Given the sensitivity and

potential financial impacts to Huntington Beach’s economy, how can

the experts responsibly guarantee that these additional burdens

Poseidon would make on the ocean environment not be the straws that

finally break the camel’s back?

The Orange County Sanitation District’s pipe installation along

Bushard Street has created enormous problems with numerous lawsuits

pending. Although Poseidon’s pipeline would be smaller, in many cases

it would be deeper than the sanitation district’s pipe. This

long-term construction project would be detrimental to residents with

homes adjacent to Hamilton Avenue, Brookhurst Street and Adams Avenue

and poses tremendous legal exposure to the city.

Lastly, does Huntington Beach want to open up water -- a

historically public utility -- to a private, for-profit company? It

was attempted in Tampa, Fla., and that plant still hasn’t come

online. There may be differences of opinion as to why the system has

failed there, but whatever those reasons truly are, the system has,

in fact, failed. After Huntington Beach’s recent history including

the sports complex and condo conversion scandals, is it wise to run

the risk with Poseidon?

There are plenty of reasons why you, as a conscientious City

Council member, can and should say no to Poseidon. Primarily, you

should because there are regional jurisdictions that deal with water

issues on a daily basis and are better prepared to address those

issues. It is in the best short-term and long-term interest of the

city and those who live here to reject the environmental report and

conditional-use permit.

Huntington Beach Tomorrow is not anti-desalination. We are,

however, against projects that are invasive to our city and that do

not provide our city with a tangible benefit.

Please feel free to contact us with questions.

HUNTINGTON BEACH TOMORROW

David Guido, president