So, who is the Los Osos Technical Task Force (TTF)? They are a self-appointed group of citizens opposed to the LOCSD wastewater project. Nothing more. They are not a government task force, and although their group includes engineers, their expertise is not in wastewater facilities. Further, their group does not have the qualifications or expertise to design or build a wastewater project. In fact, the majority of the group are Caltrans employees (August 2004 Roster).
Thus, if you have a question regarding highway construction or how to obtain an encroachment permit along Highway 1, call the Los Osos TTF or Caltrans direct. If you have a question regarding water quality and/or appropriate waste water systems to clean up a water quality problem (such as the 1 million gallons per day Los Osos leaks into our groundwater and the bay from improperly functioning septic systems), call the State Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Remember, a real scientist does not say “trust me.� A real scientist provides data and peer review. The Los Osos TTF offers opinions. Their opinions, such as there is a cheaper and better solution, have not been substantiated by scientific data. So far project delays have cost the community over $25 million. Imagine what we could have done with that money. How much more will we waste? Let’s move forward.
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Jan Di Leo
Los Osos
This article appears in Mar 3-10, 2005.