From the Desk of Julie Tacker
1 September 5, 2023
The City of Pismo Beach
760 Mattie Road
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
Attention: City Council
RE: Item 11.A: Adoption of an Addendum to the Certified Environmental Impact Report for the Central Coast Blue Project
Dear Council,
As you may know, Mr. Edwards and I submitted thoughtful comments on the Central Coast Blue Draft Addendum, some of which were addressed by your consultant. Two significant questions arose from the consultant’s responses, so I reached out by telephone, leaving a voicemail for Mr. Downing, to seek clarification. Mr. Downing did not have the courtesy to call me back. Instead, he asked Rincon’s representative, Annaliese Torres, to call me to ask me what my questions were, but she provided no answers.
The two questions are these:
A. How many gallons will each truck carrying dewatering water carry away from the ATF during construction?
B. The response to comments to a concern raised about “72 trucks a day” of dewatering water disposal from the ATF site, only now identifies Mentone Basin Park as a potential disposal area for dewatering water.
In the July 7, 2023, Tacker/Edwards comment letter raises concerns regarding dewatering stating:
Several statements in the Draft Addendum relate specifically to the construction dewatering at the ATF:
• Construction dewatering would also be required at the ATF complex, and disposal of produced groundwater would require approximately 72 truck trips per day on average.
• Average of 72 round-trip truck trips for hauling produced groundwater one mile to stormwater detention basin.
• Produced groundwater would be disposed of via one of several methods, including connections to the City’s existing ocean outfall pipeline that runs under State Route 1, temporary storage and timed release to the sanitary or storm sewer, or trucking up to one mile for percolation into a stormwater retention basin , which would require approximately 1,250 truck trips per injection and production well, approximately 60 truck trips per monitoring well, and approximately 72 truck trips. per day on average for the ATF complex.
From the Desk of Julie Tacker
2 The Draft Addendum does not say how much water each of the 72 trucks will carry. As described in the above statements, the proposed scenario could look like this: Seventy -two (72) trucks carrying 5,000 gallons each would deliver 360,000 gallons (over an acre foot) each day to the detention basin(s). It is unlikely the 0.10 ac. Basin could hold this much water daily, if at all. Seventy-two (72) trucks in an eight (8) hour day would equate to one truck filled and driven to and from the detention basin every 6 minutes. The same number of trucks hauling water over a 12-hour day would equate to one truck filled and driven to and from the basin every ten (10) minutes. It is unclear if a single truck could be filled every 6 -10 minutes to accomplish this task, indicating there would be many trucks waiting to be filled at the ATF site and many trucks lined up to dispose at the detention basin. Again, significantly impacting traffic at the basin location and in and around the ATF site.
Last week, I received this email from Mr. Downing, failing to answer the first question and asserting that the inclusion of Mentone Basin Park is included in the project analysis, because it’s within a mile of the ATF site.
Mentone Basin Park is located at 1500 Trouville Ave. and South 14th Street in Grover Beach in a densely populated residential neighborhood. This park is heavily used by the neighbors and City sponsored functions. The park consists of one tennis court and one
From the Desk of Julie Tacker
3 basketball/pickleball court, picnic areas and restroom on approximately one acre, and a drainage basin that is used as a seasonal sports field on about 3. 7 acres, totaling approximately 4. 7 acres.
The fact that the project DEIR, nor its addendum never identified this community park and was never analyzed as a disposal site. There has been no notification of these potential impacts to this neighborhood in any of the CCB documents or outreach materials. These neighbors will be directly impacted.
It is alarming that “72 round-trip truck trips” is a “conservative” number of trucks that may travel to Mentone Basin Park and that “conservative,” in this context, suggests that there is the potential for many more trucks trips that will occur. These trucks will travel the residential streets of Grover Beach to dispose of dewatering water, these truck trips were not analyzed for their impact on the neighborhood. The use of this park as a disposal site will render the “seasonal sports field” unusable for the duration of the construction dewatering, which may be as long as two full years.
Please make this correspondence part of the administrative record for the project. Please confirm receipt and feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
From the Desk of Julie Tacker
4 Julie Tacker
P.O. Box 6604
Los Osos, CA 93412
Cc: City of Arroyo Grane
City of Grover Beach
South San Luis Obispo County Sanitation District
Oceano Community Services District
James Bishop, Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Dan Carl, Deputy Director, Central Coast District Office, California Coastal Commission