Coastal Panel and San Onofre

Your July 8 editorial (“The Political Game Is On, and Coastline Is the Loser”) marks the third time within a week that The Times has inserted Southern California Edison into the mix of controversial issues surrounding the alleged effort to oust Peter Douglas as executive director of the California Coastal Commission.

The reference to “political games” and its implications disturb us. Thus, we would like to clarify the record on two points.

First, and foremost, Edison has no position on Coastal Commission staffing issues, and we have not in any way supported any effort to dismiss Douglas from his current post. While we have disagreed with some of his recommendations affecting our nuclear power plant operations, we respect Douglas’ professionalism and his dedication to protecting the coastline.

Second, we need to clarify the nature of the current dispute between the Coastal Commission staff and the owners of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The issue between the owners and the commission staff centers on the extent of measures required to fully mitigate San Onofre’s impact on the adjacent marine environment.

The owners of San Onofre--Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric and the cities of Anaheim and Riverside--are committed to mitigation that is reasonably proportional to the degree of impact. That impact is less extensive than was previously predicted, as an independent panel of scientists has validated. Hence, the need to amend San Onofre’s coastal permit to reduce mitigation requirements.

The commission staff, however, refused last year to consider the owners’ request to amend the permit. Since then, dialogue between the plant’s owners and the staff has continued.

Edison is not a party to any larger policy issues that may exist between the commission, its staff and the Wilson administration. Our concern and involvement extend only to achieving a fair resolution to the current San Onofre permit issue.

FRANK MELONE, Manager

San Onofre Mitigation Project

Southern California Edison