NGOs Duplicitous About Ocean Industrialization
Recently REACT Alliance received a request for response by a national media source to this question: “Does REACT have a comment on this policy move as a group that opposes further industrialization of the ocean? “https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/trump-offshore-drilling-21116334.php” Here is our response.
REACT Alliance is a single-issue alliance, and as such has opposed the industrialization of our oceans and coastal communities (ports, harbors, beaches and cities) by the offshore wind industry and our own state government. We do not advocate for any energy technology in any way and are adamantly against ocean industrialization in any form…. this stance is consistent with our actions and opposition to floating offshore wind. In fact, if we were not to oppose all ocean industrialization and destruction it would be hypocritical in the extreme!
This being said, I would like to point out the hypocrisy of numerous NGO’s that have been ranting about ocean industrialization while wholeheartedly supporting offshore wind; a decidedly destructive form of ocean industrialization. Many of the local pro OSW NGO’s and higher education facilities have received money from the offshore wind industry, making their silence or vocal approval of the industry suspect and duplicitous in nature given their collective stances on ocean industrialization.
Is the almighty dollar guiding their choices? Is climate catastrophism drowning out the voice of reason?
To destroy the ocean in the name of “saving the earth” makes no sense at all! To oppose ocean industrialization and not oppose offshore wind is the perfect definition of hypocrisy, greed and corporate favoritism”.
Mandy Davis
President, REACT
The Times They Aren’t A-Changing
Neil Farrell’s article about the old sewer plant in the 5/21/26 EBN mentioned that it might be difficult to pay for the interest Cayucos holds in the plant as well as fund all of its other priorities. Subject to Coastal Commission approval, options for generating income from the property could be another RV park or a hotel.
The article reminded me of my 2011 letter to the Bay News when it was owned by Tolosa Press. The City could lease the site for a data center (not all data centers support AI). Or it could form a joint venture with Vistra to include the power plant. Since there is an adjacent major electrical transmission line, and a global internet backbone in Grover Beach, some company with deep pockets might be interested.
[2011 letter] Over the years, Morro Bay locals have lamented the tax base revenue decline, some of which has been generated by the sunsetting of the power plant. Read the story of an Oregon town’s revival due to a new data center being built there, https://bit.ly/4dUYb2l. With a casual search, there are many other stories about this and similar opportunities.
The City of Morro Bay does not own the power plant, but it may have some influence with the current owners regarding income generation derived from sale/lease/licensing. With some creativity and effort on the part of the current Morro Bay City Council, maybe the power plant facility and grounds could be put to good use by modern industry. Teaming up with startups such as Facebook or Zynga might be less preferable than seeking a partnership with an established operation like Microsoft, Oracle or Google, but in Morro Bay’s case, almost anything would be better than nothing.
Will city officials look to creative solutions to its budget morass?
Andy King
Morro Bay
The Other Side of the Sewer
It is unfortunate that Mr. Farrell didn’t reach out to the Cabrillo Estates Property Owners Association (CEPOA) for the May 21st article on the Cabrillo Sewer project. He would have had a better-balanced news article if he had.
The Local Area Management Program (LAMP) was developed to mitigate high levels of groundwater contamination, typically in rural areas where sewer is not available. Cabrillo Estates was designated a “Severe Nitrate Loading Area” in 2018 after the sewer was built. Nearby wells, including the Cabrillo well and the Sunset Terrace well have consistently shown high levels of nitrates.
Residents of Cabrillo were unaware of the LAMP until it was brought to their attention by the Basin Management Committee (BMC), the group that is tasked with monitoring and protecting the Los Osos Aquifer, our sole source of water.
The retrofit to an advanced water treatment system from a regular septic system is very complex. The advanced system is made of two tanks and must be hard wired to WiFi for monitoring. They require special permits and must also be inspected and tested annually by the county. The system will remove approximately 50% of the nitrates but no other contaminants such as medications or cleaning products commonly found in wastewater.
CEPOA had Crizer Construction do an estimate of the cost of these systems on four different subject properties and the cost ranged from $100,000 to $150,000 to install the system. That did not include the cost of repairing driveways and landscape as the systems require leach fields, not leach pits which is the style generally found in Cabrillo.
It is little wonder that residents looked for a better alternative to such an expensive requirement. Most of the residents in Cabrillo are retired and few would have the ability to put out that kind of money all at once. Even Ms. Howard conceded that Cabrillo Estates would “likely not meet the waiver requirements” to avoid having to install these systems.
The request to the Board of Supervisors was to create a tax assessment district which would pay for all of the cost of the project through our property taxes over time just like Baywood. Over 70% of the property owners affirmed not once but twice they would go on the hook to fund the entire project with a supplemental assessment.
There are additional reasons to connect to the Water Reclamation Facility. (WRF) Environmentally this is a much better solution then just removing some of the nitrates from the discharge. It will end any future contamination of ground water from Cabrillo Estates. It will send effluent to the Facility which currently is operating at 50% capacity. It will recycle it back into the community as irrigation water. The addition of more users of the Facility will increase the amount of money being paid to service the loans and Operations and Maintenance of the WRF. In fact, the Basin Management Committee wrote a letter to the county supporting the project because of the environmental benefit. It is also supported by the Regional Water Quality Control Board which monitors water quality on the state level.
Honestly the Cabrillo Estates Property Owners saw this as a “no brainer” being both financially and environmentally sound.
After two years of working with Public Works and conducting research including a $40,000 preliminary engineering report provided to the county at no cost to them, it was more than disappointing that the Board of Supervisors decided not to support this infrastructure project.
Anyone who lives in Los Osos knows that since Covid property values have doubled and tripled in this community. As a result, every time a property changes hands the County collects additional property tax dollars automatically.
Since 2022, 34 properties have been sold in Cabrillo Estates. This means the county is collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars more in property tax from Cabrillo Estates alone every year.
Where are our tax dollars going?
Deborah Howe
Property Owner Cabrillo Estates
