Don't throw money down the drain 

 Los Osos green sewer supporters caught the attention of the Coastal Commission and got a de novo hearing for at least four substantial issues. It’s rare that a project has so many appellants (27) but it clearly shows that this three-year, $7-million-plus gravity sewer design project is flawed throughout. Supervisor Bruce Gibson exaggerated the pollution crisis (again), suggested that a fair analysis had been followed, and urged the commissioners to approve the coastal permit based on the urgency of getting $80 million of assorted stimulus packages.

 If an environmentally better design is ignored in favor of an outrageously expensive corporate design that costs twice the money, simply to jockey for federal stimulus funds, doesn’t that open the door for whistle-blower actions?

 I thank the activists who helped the Coastal Commission smell the notable stinky flaws in this shabby proposal. Let’s hope that Gibson and Paavo Ogren get their act together and start designing for our community, not their corporate buddies. I’d much prefer paying $80 per month for a great, appropriate sewer  technology than grovel for stimulus dollars that were meant to be properly applied but currently are not.