KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District officials are hosting a hearing Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. to discuss the location for a deep well injection site.
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The hearing is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., with doors open at 6:30 p.m. at the Santa Clarita Activities Center on 20880 Centre Pointe Parkway.
The meeting is the second of two scheduled to give residents a chance to voice their opinions on a state-mandated chloride compliance project.
Click here to view the Draft SEIR online (Adobe Acrobat PDF).
One of the items expected to receive comment is the location of the project, which was changed in a supplemental environmental impact report, or SEIR, that’s currently available for comment.
“The SEIR addresses potential environmental impacts from development of a deep well injection site at an alternate location that is 800 feet north of the location that was previously examined in the 2013 EIR for the chloride compliance project,” according to the Sanitation District website.
The reason for the relocation was an easement that was placed on the property, according to Steve Highter, spokesman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District.
“The parcel of land previously proposed is no longer available for development due to the recordation of a conservation easement,” he stated in an email. “The district was aware that the conservation easement was being developed, but did not know the timing as to when it would be recorded. We anticipated that if the property was ultimately not available, either due to easement or other factors, we would identify an alternate parcel.”
The modeling available to the district indicates the well site is expected to be sustainable for 50 years, although he also added a test well is planned for, and expected to give the district a better estimate.
The deep well injection option was chosen by officials after several rounds of contentious public hearings questioning the need for the project.
Ultimately, Sanitation District governing board officials, which include Santa Clarita City Council members Bob Kellar and Laurene Weste as two of the three seat holders, said their hands were tied in choosing a construction project the state Regional Water Quality Control Board deemed necessary for removing chloride, or salt, from water the Santa Clarita Valley sends downstream to Ventura County.
District officials determined deep well injection was the most cost effective route after a look at several options, including trucking the salt or a “brine line,” that would pump the salt out to sea.
The Draft SEIR will be available for public comments during a 45-day period ending March 2, 2015. Written comments should be sent by email to mgiljum@lacsd.org or U.S. mail to the following address:
Mark Giljum, P.E.
Planning Section
Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County
1955 Workman Mill Road
Whittier, CA 90601
“Bob Kellar and Laurene Weste as two of the three seat holders, said their hands were tied in choosing a construction project ” – Oh heavens – it was the sanitation district that chose to do it this way. The Regional Board merely said that salts needed to be reduced, they didn’t ever say how this should be accomplished. The end result is that we have a project that will make it impossible to get recycled water into the upper water shed where it is really needed, and instead send it all done the river to Newhall Ranch because that’s the only way it can go.
BTW – Newhall Land/Lennar Corp owns the land where the injection well will be placed.