Why this matters
For decades South Bay communities have faced the repercussions of failing sewage and wastewater facilities on both sides of the border.
Imperial Beach leaders want some of the financial benefits of cross-border travel to offset the impacts of sewage and wastewater on the Tijuana River and nearby residents.
City Council leaders adopted a resolution earlier this month asking the San Diego Association of Governments to establish a fund to pay for infrastructure and other environmental mitigation projects in the Tijuana River Valley.
SANDAG’s board will discuss the resolution and the proposal at its October meeting, says Imperial Beach City Councilmember Jack Fisher, who also represents the city on SANDAG’s board.
The fund would draw on tolls from the future Otay Mesa East Port Entry, the new border crossing facility under construction and projected to open in 2028. It would be the first mitigation fund of its kind, generating revenue long into the future, Fisher said. With SANDAG’s approval, the proposal would also require state legislation to make the fund legally feasible.
Imperial Beach City Council asks that 1% of revenue a year from the port of entry – or $25 million, whichever is greater – go to the fund to benefit the communities of Imperial Beach, Nestor and San Ysidro.
“Although the increase in the international trade relationship with Mexico may provide a regional economic benefit, the negative impacts continue to accrue and continue to lower the daily environmental quality of life for those closest to the U.S. Southwestern Border,” the resolution says.
“I know this will take a lot of push and pull, but I would like to have anybody … say that this isn’t the right thing to do,” Fisher said.
Since 2018, more than 100 billion gallons of sewage and untreated wastewater have flown through the river and into the Pacific Ocean. The volume of sewage is similar to what would flow from the world’s largest international oil tanker if it emptied its cargo into the ocean every day for a decade.
This summer, after the federal wastewater treatment plant malfunctioned, 150 residents dealing with noxious odors emanating from the river called in complaints. That led to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District issuing a public nuisance notice to the International Boundary and Water Commission and Veolia, the company running the plant.
Since August a team of researchers from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the University of Texas in Austin have been conducting a series of studies on the air, water and dust in and around the river and have been sounding alarms. They recorded high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide, a gas that smells like rotten eggs and is common with sewage.
Though little is known about the long-term effects of exposure to the gas, local doctors are seeing patients who report respiratory problems, gastrointestinal issues and skin and eye irritation, among other health problems. They also have seen young people report persistent headaches and older patients complain of memory problems or mental fogginess.
The scientists are also carrying out a series of studies to learn what exactly is in the air in the water that might be of concern, other than hydrogen sulfide.
Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre and a growing number of local community leaders have been calling on the state and federal government to declare a state of emergency in order to funnel the needed funds to expedite the repair and expansion of the federal wastewater plant as well as address the overarching problem. As of now the federal plant project won’t be complete for another seven years, and that is just one part of the infrastructure puzzle.
“We knew this was going to happen since NAFTA,” Aguirre said, referring to the now decades old North American Free Trade Agreement that expedited the growth of U.S. and international industry on the Mexican side of the border. That’s how long she says leaders have had to take control of the wastewater and sewage issue, which has been exacerbated in part because of the growth of industry in Mexico.
She says that as the region continues to grow, she and her colleagues have been coming up with ideas to ensure there are protections in place for South Bay residents. Fisher helped push through a provision to create a working group to address environmental impacts of the new port of entry.
“We’re at that point where we can’t just keep kicking the can,” said Imperial Beach Mayor Pro Tem Mitch McKay, “because the river valley, it’s not going to heal itself.”
