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Home My WebLink About2009/09/28 Item 4~~~~~ Councilmember Steve Castaneda ~~~ City Of Chula Vista r.= w~, 276 FouRh Avenue CINOF Chula Vista, Ca 91910 619.fi9L6044-619.476.5379 Fax M E M O CHULA VISfA DATE: Wednesday, September 23, 2009 TO: Mayor and City Councilmembers ~yn I~/ FROM: Councilmember Steve Castaneda / %l.~' CC: City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk, Director of Conservation & Environment RE: Letter to State Water Resources Control Board Here is the draft of the letter to the State Water Resources Control Board regarding Dynegy's water discharge permit at the South Bay Power Plant. This is to be considered at the Tuesday, September 29, zoo9 Special meeting of the City Council. Thank you. 4-1 - `~~ ,..~ ~- __ _~I OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL September 29, 2009 Dorothy R. Rice, Executive Director State Water Resources Control Board P.O. Box 100 Sacramento. CA 95812-0100 Dear Chair Director Rice: RE: NPDES Permit Application for Renewal of NPDES Waste Discharge Requirements For Order No. R9-2004 - 0154, NPDES No. CA0001368 Dynegy South, LLC, South Bay Power Plant Discharge to San Diego Bay The Chula Vista City Council is unanimous in its support of the July 13, 2009, letter (attached) to John Robertus and in its expectation that the discharge permit for the South Bay Power Plant (SBPP) not be renewed or extended. The residents of Chula Vista have shouldered the negative environmental and economic impacts of this regional facility for almost five decades. The plant uses an old technology that constrains public access and economic development plans for 135 acres of bayfront property and inhibits the restoration and protection of adjacent habitat. The City encourages the State Water Resources Control Board to recognize the unique characteristic of the South Bay Power Plant that differentiates it from other "once through cooling" power plants in California. It discharges into a closed bay. The City further requests that the Board direct the Regional Water Quality Control Board to conduct a local hearing in Chula Vista as soon as possible to review the record which clearly indicates that the power plant does substantial environmental damage to the local watershed and that the last 5 year permit was granted with the understanding that it would be the last permit for this facility. We are aware that public agencies are facing limited resources, including our own. However, this is aonce-in-five-years process for which we all had the obligation to plan. The SBPP is one of the two largest facilities in the San Diego region and according to the Board's most recent study, SBPP uses up to 600,000,000 gallons of bay water per day, kills approximately 390,000 fish through impingement and 2.4 billion larvae through entrainment annually. The RWOCB general statement says, "The primary duty of the Regional Board is to protect the quality of the waters within the Region for all beneficial uses." We have asked that the RWCQB make the process for denial of this permit a priority. 276 FOURTH AVENUE • CHULA VISTA • CALIFOAFII~ 91910 • (619) 691-5044 • FAX (619) 476-5379 ~ aoseco~~m=, a.~yn.a P.p•~ The bay and surrounding habitat will not begin to fully restore itself from 50 years of this facility's impacts until the plant ceases drawing and discharging exceptionally large volumes of water through this closed water body. The community will not realize the financial means to restore and preserve that habitat, provide public access and the economic opportunities the bayfront represents until the SBPP is decommissioned and dismantled, and the adjacent marine habitat has the resources and time to be restored. Please help us convey in the strongest manner to the SBPP operator and the other state regulatory agencies that 1950s technology and discharge practices of the past century do not meet this region's water quality standards for this unique watershed today. We ask that you encourage the RWQCB to provide an open, transparent and inclusive opportunity for South Bay residents to hear from all parties and review the data by conducting these meetings in Chula Vista. Thank you for your consideration. Respectfully, Cheryl Cox Mayor Steve Castaneda Councilmember Rudy Ramirez Deputy Mayor Pamela Bensoussan Councilmember Attached: Letter to John H. Robertus cc: Charles R. Hoppin, Chair Francis Spivy-Weber, Vice Chair Arthur G. Badggett Tam M. Doduc Jim Sandoval, City Manager, Chula Vista Michael T. Meacham, Director of Conservation & Environmental Services 4-3 CITY OF CHULA VISTA July 13, 2009 Mr. John Robertus, Executive Director Attn: Core Regulatory Unit California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region 9174 Sky Park Court, Suite 100 San Diego, CA 92123-4340 Dear Mr. Robertus: We are writing on a matter of significant importance to residents in the South County. As the members of the elected delegation representing South County communities, we are writing to express our concerns and opposition to the proposed five-year extension of the South Bay Power Plant (SBPP) discharge permit into the San Diego Bay. When the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (Board) renewed the water discharge permit in 2004, we understood that this would be the last time it would grant a renewal. Therefore, we did not object to the permit application. In 2004, the Board granted the operators a waste discharge permit, which included very lenient conditions that allowed the power plant to continue to operate. It did not require mitigation of known impacts, it did not require Best Available Technology for cooling, and it even allowed the operators three years to come into compliance with the copper standards. V`/ith the Ia,test application to renew the water discharge permit, the South County faces five more years of degradation to our Bay, negative impacts to the environmental health of our communities, and continued restrictions to economic development on the bayfront. The Board's regulations require that permitted water discharge complies with the law and that beneficial uses of San Diego Bay not be unreasonably affected. In the 2004 permit fact sheet, discharge from SBPP degraded the bay's beneficial uses, its intake and discharge structures failed to reflect best technology available, and mitigation for the damage deemed necessary. Since 2004, there have been several legislative and legal decisions made that have implications to any future operation of the power plant's cooling system. In considering th,e 2009 permit renewal, It should be noted that the operator has yet to address these issues, and has not included proposals in their 2009 application to eliminate the water cooling impacts to San Diego Bay such as changes to include best technology, or commitment to a date to cease operation of the power plant. While considering any economic impacts of granting this permit, please note that the presence of the power plant has undermined decades of effort to redevelop the Chula Vista Bayfront with quality development. The original agreement tied the purchase of SBPP to a ten year lease term and the repayment of bonds for purchase of the SBPP. 4-4 Mr. John Robertus July 10, 2009 Page Two It was widely understood that the ten year timeframe would be sufficient enough for the Otay Mesa Generating Station located in Otay Mesa, San Diego to be permitted and constructed. The bonds are paid and the new plant should be on-line during the fall of this year. The lease for the power plant site is set to expire In November 2009 with the discharge permit set to expire the same month. We urge the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board to reject this permit application for another five-year renewal. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Bob Filner U.S. Congressman, 515f District ~~~ ~~ Denise Moreno Ducheny State Senator, 40~h District ,~ ,~ ,_ ~` Marty lock State Assemblymember 78th District ~r Greg Cox San Diego County Supervisor, District 1 ~~ _ ~ -- Pamela Bensoussan Chula Vista City Councilmember ,~ D ~"-' ~x.~1; Mary Salas State Assemblymember, 79~h District Steve Castaneda Chula Vista City Councilmember ~; Ben Hueso San Diego City Councilmember, District & 4-5