Poseidon Resources Corp. has negotiated an agreement with San Diego County labor unions to use local labor for the construction of the Carlsbad seawater desalination plant. The partnership is to be announced at 11:45 a.m. today (June 24) at the Encino Power Station where a pilot plant is located. The plant will have the capacity to deliver 50 million gallons of drinking water per day – enough to meet the needs of about 100,000 families.
The partnership is marked by a memorandum of understanding on a project labor agreement between Poseidon, the San Diego County Building and Construction Trades Council and the Southwestern Regional Council of Carpenters. Through the partnership, all the labor will be hired locally, according to Kris Hartnett, president of the Building Construction Trades Council. Similar labor agreements were made for the construction of the San Diego Convention Center expansion, Petco Park and the Otay and Escondido power plants.
The environmental impact report for the desalination plant was released May 16 by the city of Carlsbad for public comment. That opened a 45-day period for community review and comment. Poseidon and the city entered into a water purchase agreement in September 2004.
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