Cal Am test well shuts down; outfall pipe severed.

Sometime Monday morning, the exposed outfall pipe for Cal Am's test slant well in Marina was severed, presumably because of crashing waves. 

Cal Am officials could not be reached for comment, but Tom Luster, a senior environmental scientist with the California Coastal Commission, writes in an email that the well was shut off Friday, in advance of the outfall pipe being severed.  

The pipe, which is made of plastic, became exposed near the end of February, as powerful wave action has been washing sand off the beach. The pipe is also just south of the Cemex sand mine, which is exacerbating erosion on the local coast.

Dave Stoldt, general manager for Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, says that because the pipe—which connects to a concrete Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency outfall structure that is also exposed—is the sole outfall option for the test well, he knows of no estimate as to when the well will be turned back on. 

How important the test well is to the fate of the project remains an open question.

Stoldt adds that Cal Am's draft environmental impact report (DEIR) for its proposed desalination project is nearing completion, and for that reason, he doesn't believe the test well data will be used in the DEIR. 

(The DEIR is being prepared by the San Francisco-based consulting firm Environmental Science Associates. Eric Zigas, who's been working on the report, could not immediately be reached for comment.) 

Stoldt expressed frustration that the well—which was shut down for several months last summer due to a drop in groundwater—is now shutting down for a second time.

"It’s killing me," Stoldt says. "I keep wanting to see a continual stream of data, and every time it stops and restarts, it doesn’t give you the answers you’re looking for."

Stoldt adds that the Pollution Control Agency is contemplating some kind of armoring to its outfall structure, through Paul Sciuto, the agency's general manager, could not immediately be reached to confirm this. 

According to an email from Luster, Cal Am must submit an application to amend its coastal development permit "if any well components become exposed."

He adds that the Coastal Commission received an initial application from Cal Am last week. 

"At this point, Cal-Am is continuing to monitor the site and will remove by hand any more of the pipe that becomes exposed due to coastal erosion or wave action," Luster writes. "With more weather coming this weekend, we’ll probably wait until next week to determine what information the amendment request should include and what options we might consider."

This story will be updated as more information becomes known. 

UPDATE 3/9/16 5:30pm: In a text message, Cal Am spokeswoman Catherine Stedman writes, "The repair work itself should take less than a day so it's a matter of waiting for the storm season to pass and receiving permission to proceed."

CORRECTION: According to information from Luster, who's been in communication with Cal Am over the last week, a previous version of this article was incorrect in stating that the outfall pipe was severed Monday night. Luster writes that it occurred Monday morning.

Additionally, the previous headline stated the well shut down after the pipe was severed, but according to Luster, it was shut down three days prior.