Proposed CA Desalinaton Site Heavy With Pesticides, Nitrates

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"Moss Landing Harbor, which would be the source of water for a proposed desalination plant, is highly contaminated with nitrates and pesticides, the chairman of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute warned Friday. Ken Johnson said he has provided the California American Water Co. with data from a continuing study showing that as much as two-thirds of the harbor water at times is agricultural runoff from the Salinas River, water that contains an "astounding" level of contamination.

In recent public presentations, Cal Am has characterized the harbor water as mostly "fresh" and has said its desalination process would improve the quality of water being returned to the bay by making it saltier. Cal Am spokeswoman Catherine Bowie has said the company's plan would actually improve a "fresh water plume."

What Cal Am has not been explaining, Johnson said, is that the fresh water in the harbor contains a "bucketload" of nitrates and pesticides that flows from the river into Elkhorn Slough. While the research institute resists becoming embroiled in politics, Johnson said, he is concerned as a private citizen about the implications of the water-quality study he and other scientists are conducting in the harbor with funding from the National Science Foundation. Cal Am is "a long way along (with its desalination planning) and it's a huge investment," he said. "It seems the Monterey public ought to know what they're getting it into. They won't just be getting sea water."

Larry Gallery of RBF engineering, who is overseeing environmental studies for Cal Am, said he is aware of the institute's findings and is conducting independent tests as well. He said Cal Am's pilot project will help establish the quality of the desalted water and said the company will be required to complete a "watershed sanitary survey" as part of its permitting process. "It's an important issue that we need to come to grips with," Gallery said.

A spokesman for another entity proposing a desalination plant in the same area said Friday that he shares Johnson's concerns, but thinks his group has a solution. The desalination process proposed by Cal Am could concentrate the contaminants, said Marc del Piero, spokesman and attorney for Pajaro Sunny-Mesa Community Services District. The district is pursuing its own plant in Moss Landing at another site, the former National Refractories property. Del Piero said Friday that existing storage tanks there would enable that plant to store seawater that could be used to dilute the waste water, making it suitable to return to the bay."

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http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/local/11471081.htm