A new report from the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt evaluates potential scenarios for electric grid transmission development to support floating offshore wind along the northern coast of California and the southern coast of Oregon. The scenarios include onshore and offshore (undersea) transmission systems, with interconnections ranging from 7.2 to 25.8 gigawatts of generation capacity. The study encompasses multiple possible wind farm sites between Coos Bay, Oregon and Cape Mendocino, California, including the two currently awarded lease areas located 20 miles off California’s Humboldt Bay, and two Draft Wind Energy Areas near Brookings and Coos Bay, Oregon.Because the existing transmission infrastructure in these rural, coastal areas is very limited, major investments will be required to support offshore wind development.This study also includes a preliminary assessment of anticipated permitting challenges related to environmental impacts, land use conflicts, and undersea cable routing.Because the Pacific offshore wind buildout will take decades to accomplish, the report emphasizes that infrastructure investment decisions made in the early phases must be informed by expected long-term strategies—both to minimize cost and impact, and so that developments do not become stranded.The analysis indicated that coastal communities near wind farms could be connected to the new transmission infrastructure, thereby increasing the reliability and available capacity of electricity in those areas, for only 0.4% to 2.4% of the overall cost of the transmission upgrades.Keep reading
The California Coastal Commission decided unanimously Wednesday that five appeals brought to the commission over Nordic Aquafarms’ proposed aquaculture facility raised no substantial issues, at least within the confines of the appeals.“I think their hearts and their minds and their concerns are absolutely in the right places. These are the issues we really, really need to be dealing with,” said Commissioner Mike Wilson.He added he agreed with staff the concerns weren’t in the confines of the appeal.The appeals covered a range of topics, including the project’s greenhouse gas emissions, effects on marine resources from water intake and discharge, allowance of a fire road in dune mat habitat, public access impact and a lack of an evacuation plan during a tsunami.The staff recommendation was that none of the appeals raised a substantial issue with the project’s consistency with Humboldt County’s Local Coastal Plan or the public access policies of the Coastal Act. Staff noted marine impacts are to be addressed during other decisions like the already approved wastewater permit and soon-to-be-discussed intake permit.Staff noted the commission will be addressing the marine resources in reviews of the ocean discharge and seawater intake separately — it says the scope of these impacts are not within Humboldt County’s coastal development permit.Keep reading
Increased tides give a potential glimpse of sea-level rise impactsThe United States Coast Guard warned all beachgoers in the Pacific Northwest to be on high alert for sneaker waves while looking at the king tides this weekend.“They’re the highest natural tides of the year, which occur when the moon’s orbit is not uniform around the Earth, so when the moon is the closest to the Earth, that’s when you get it,” said Lori Dengler, geology department professor emeritus for Cal Poly Humboldt. “They come a handful of times a year. They’re easy to predict in advance when you have those situations.”King tides are a non-scientific term for the most dramatic tides of the year. They lead to the highest high tides and the lowest low tides, which can prove to be dangerous for beachgoers.“All beachgoers in the Pacific Northwest are encouraged to exercise heightened caution for sneaker waves during the upcoming king tides this weekend and for the remainder of the winter. The Coast Guard and National Weather Service are urging the public who visit coastal beaches during king tides to be on alert for dangerous surf and potentially fatal sneaker waves.” said the U.S. Coast Guard in a news release on Friday.The king tides affect different beaches differently, with Dengler saying that beaches with steep angles end up being more prone to sneaker waves and water surges.“Our steep beaches, Big Lagoon Beach is notorious, Gold Bluff beach up in Del Norte is another beach where you tend to have these particularly strong sneaker waves,” Dengler said. “Flatter beaches like Clam Beach, it’s not as big as a problem.”The director of the Humboldt Waterkeeper, Jennifer Kalt, says that there’s more to watch out for than just the water itself.“People tend to think of roads as permanent things, but they’re actually a lot of times pretty tenuous,” Kalt said. “There’s a lot of low-lying areas around Humboldt Bay that get flooded when there’s a king tide.”Although the king tides can damage roadways and people, Kalt says it can be a “good time to visualize” what the ocean will look like with a heightened sea level.“The Humboldt Bay area is experiencing twice the relative rate of sea-level rise as the rest of the West Coast because the ground below the bay is sinking at the same rate that the sea level is rising,” Kalt said, “Something like 90% of the tidal wetlands around the bay were filled a century ago and were turned into communities.”Keep reading
Last Thursday, the Coastal Commission unanimously approved a 5-year permit for Nordic Aquafarms to discharge tertiary-treated wastewater through the 1.5-mile long ocean outfall that was built for the pulp mill in the 1960s. The ocean outfall has attracted a number of potential developers since the pulp mill closed for good in 2008, including a quickly-withdrawn scheme to process gold ore with toxic chemicals like cyanide.
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Nordic Aquafarms has cleared yet another hurdle in the extensive permitting process for its land-based fish farm planned for the Samoa Peninsula. During today’s monthly meeting, the California Coastal Commission unanimously approved a coastal development permit, with special conditions, for wastewater discharge for the proposed project.The Norwegian seafood company plans to raise yellowtail kingfish at the massive aquaculture facility, which would discharge more than 10 million gallons of “tertiary treated wastewater” per day through the existing Redwood Marine Terminal II outfall pipe located 1.55 miles offshore. To put that into perspective, when the Samoa Pulp Mill was operational it would produce 70 million gallons of untreated wastewater per day, according to Coastal Commission staff.Jennifer Kalt, executive director of Humboldt Waterkeeper, spoke on behalf of the Surfrider Foundation, the Northcoast Environmental Center and the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), and offered support for the staff recommendation to approve the permit with additional ocean monitoring requirements. She credited Nordic for its “commitment to 100 percent renewable energy” and the company’s “willingness to discuss, negotiate and compromise” throughout the project development process.“We view the project’s potential impacts along with its benefits – namely that it would begin by removing contaminated structures, including the smokestack and chemical tanks abandoned in 2008 by the pulp mill that operated there since the 1960s,” Kalt continued. “We strongly support staff recommendations, and we urge you to approve the [coastal development permit] with special conditions.”Keep reading
Last Thursday, the Coastal Commission unanimously approved a 5-year permit for Nordic Aquafarms to discharge tertiary-treated wastewater through the 1.5-mile long ocean outfall that was built for the pulp mill in the 1960s. The ocean outfall has attracted a number of potential developers since the pulp mill closed for good in 2008, including a quickly-withdrawn scheme to process gold ore with toxic chemicals like cyanide. 
