Sacramento Superior Court, California, has rejected a lawsuit demanding that developer Poseidon produce a new environmental study on the proposed Huntington Beach Desalination Plant project.
The suit argued that the developer should conduct an entirely new Environmental Impact Study (EIS) for the project following changes to the proposal. The original EIS was completed in 2010.
The State Lands Commission had already determined that Poseidon need only complete a supplemental report addressing the changes.
The suit was brought by the California Coastkeeper Alliance, the Orange County Coastkeeper and the California Coastal Protection Network. The project changes they cited were the addition of a 1 millimetre intake screen, the possibility for aquifer storage of product water, and variations in water demand since the original report.
The three may now take the case to appeal.
The Huntington Beach plant still requires approvals from the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board and the California Coastal Commission.