Paul Smith-Stewart
November 21, 2004
English 134
SurfÕs Up?
On my way out to the beach I still had no idea what I was going to do for my fifth essay. As my surfing buddy and I exited the freeway and entered the town of Morro Bay I saw three giant gleaming smoke stacks surfacing over the top of the hill. As we got closer to the beach the three smoke stacks gave way to a massive power plant that was a mere fifty feet from the waterÕs edge. It was surrounded by a fifteen foot cement wall and cameras everywhere. I thought what a perfect topic for my paper. As we parked and started to suit up I noticed there was an abundance of strange looking birds all around us. My friend explained to me that the whole area is an estuary preserve that protects endangered bird species.
With the towering Morro Rock looming overhead we began to wade into the surf. After I made it out past the break I turned around and saw a giant sign against the harbor wall that said ÒWelcome to Morro BayÓ with the towering smoke stacks grasping hold of the tiny harbor like three long fingers. By the time we were done surfing I was determined to research this area further. Not just for this paper, but the fact that there was no way that the power plant is helping the estuary or the ocean. After having the opportunity to surf Morro Bay, I felt it my responsibility to protect these waters so that future generations might enjoy it.
It turns out that there is a huge controversy going on because Duke Energy is attempting to get a permit to remodel the entire power plant. The official Duke Energy website starts off by saying that remodeling projects are going to begin shortly. I noticed that the plant was nearly fifty years old so it seemed logical that the plant needs renovation, but I was not convinced so I read on. Already treading on thin ice the writer tried to insert a little blurb about seawater intake at the end of the paragraph. Now I know that sucking out seawater, running it through the power plant and spitting it back out into the ocean cannot be good for the natural habitat. At this point I decided I better get some solid facts about the power plant.
Upon my second search I found an article from the Coastal Alliance website pertaining to Duke EnergyÕs planned improvements. It turns out that since the new and improved plant will have more generators, it will need Òhundreds of millions of gallons of water a dayÓ to cool them. But the Duke Energy website claims the new power plant will use less seawater than the existing plant In turn Coastal Alliance claims that this process will kill up to one third of the crab and fish larvae in the surrounding waters. Since crab and fish larvae at the bottom of the food chain, their absence would put the entire estuary in danger of collapsing. I was confused. How can this even be in issue? Since it is a controversy it means that it has the possibility of getting approved. The fact that this power plant was built in the middle of this estuary in the first place seemed ludicrous to me.
As I read on I found that the Coastal Alliance also offers information on an alternative system called dry cooling. This system would not use any estuary water and was presented as a feasible option. The Coastal Alliance brings in a quote from the CEC (California Energy Commission) that claims through their four year study of the situation a dry cooling unit would be ideal due to the fact that the average temperature in Morro Bay is relatively cool. The lower the temperature the smaller the cooling units can be. Instead of having a better grasp on the controversy I was now more confused. One side is saying the remodeling is going to use less water, while the other says it will use more.
Being a big corporation, Duke Energy is primarily interested in increasing the price of its stock. So the dry cooling system must cost more than the water cooling system, otherwise they would not be firmly against it. I went back to the Duke Energy website and found an official document that held the findings of their own research into the dry cooling system. Duke Energy admits the system would cost only 5% of their $800 million dollar budget for the new plant. But when one is dealing with large amounts of money, 5% turns out to be about $40 million which Duke Energy views as a waste.
As I was scanning through one of their reports I noticed that the new wet cooling system will only average 372 million gallons per day as opposed to the 567 million gallons that are flowing through everyday now. Considering that this is an official document I am pretty sure that the researchers cannot blatantly lie. By now I was doubting the credibility of the of the Coastal Alliance report which is not good for their side since they are the main group that is opposing these renovations. After reading more of the 100 page Duke Energy report I find that they are not lying, they just manipulated the numbers to their benefit. The new power plant will use less water, per day, but they will run the plant 365 days a year so annually the new plant will use much more seawater than the existing plant.
Also
the document tried to appear sympathetic to the natural habitat by explaining
that Duke Energy is going to put fine mesh filters over the pipe entrances in
order to help keep out the larvae and fish eggs. But as I read the statement I noticed the next sentence
happened to mention that the filter system has never been field tested. So it probably will not help at
all. The wording the writer uses
throughout this document is so boring and wordy that if I had not been reading
it closely I would have skimmed over it.
For example, ÒAlternatives whose
costs are Ôwholly disproportionateÕ to the environmental benefits to be gained,
or whose non-water quality-related impacts cannot adequately be addressed, are
considered ÔinfeasibleÓ or Ònot availableÕ and thus do not qualify as
BTA.Ó This sentence is saying a
lot of environmental protection plans for the area cost too much and waste Duke
EnergyÕs time in many more words than it actually needs to get this statement
across.
Unfortunately, enough people did skim over it and in
October the renovation project got approved by the California Energy
Commission. The only condition the
energy company had to agree to was to invest in helping restore the wetlands
surrounding the compound. But
state researchers have shown that this actually does very little to help the
precarious habitat. The
corporation is running in circles.
They will be trying to plug a hole in a problem they are causing. The whole result seemed pretty absurd
to me.
As a surfer I have an immense respect for nature, especially the beach and the oceanfront wildlife. A lot of times I take for granted what a beautiful coastline I have fifteen minutes from my dorm room. Even though the opposing argument to the remodeling of the Morro Bay Power Plant was ineffective in swaying me to their side I am still strongly against the wet cooling system. The fact that it would only cost $40 million more, compared to the hundreds of millions the plant is going to make every year, to install a dry cooling system reaffirms my belief that huge corporations are not concerned with the environmental impact of their actions.
As
the sun begins to set I look back to the giant cement monstrosity looming in
the fading light and begin to wonder how much longer I will be able to enjoy
this beautiful area. For me,
actually catching waves is only part of why I surf. I surf to get in touch with nature which in turn helps me
understand myself better. So over
the years I have had a relationship with nature that moves to protect it when
it is in danger. If trends continue in the current direction it really will
just be a matter of time as to when our magnificent coastline and all of its
wildlife will only rest in our memories.
It is sad, but it is truth.
Now that I fully understand, though, I am now ten times more motivated
to make sure that my grandkids and their grandkids can watch the sunset from
the water and surf the same waves that I did.
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