San Diego County will fix a toxic hotspot in the Tijuana River, fund epidemiological study

Following widespread community complaints about chronic illness as a result of Tijuana River pollution, San Diego County supervisors set aside funds to repair a toxic hotspot and carry out a long-term epidemiological study.

They also extended an air purifier distribution program, which doctors and scientists have said is a critical short-term strategy to improve health conditions for residents. Larger infrastructure projects will take years to complete.

“The Tijuana River sewage crisis requires both long-term solutions and action now,” said Chair Terra Lawson-Remer. “We’re moving on both tracks at once, advancing permanent fixes while taking immediate steps to reduce the toxic exposure San Diegans face every day.” 

The supervisors nearly voted unanimously in favor of the projects, with the exception of Sup. Jim Desmond who voted against conducting the epidemiological study.

“We keep putting bandaids and doing more studies, but it doesn’t fix it,” Desmond said, adding that Mexico is to blame for the sewage crisis.

“The triage needed is a tourniquet.”

Sup. Aguirre clarified that the study is needed because existing health complaints have been self-reported, and there has not been a study on either side of the border to understand the connection between the pollutants and chronic health impacts.

“Does Mexico need to be doing more? Yes,” Aguirre said.

“But we can’t continue to bury our heads in the sand and not explore specific data collection that has to do with what are the chronic long-term health effects.”

Sup. Lawson Remer said that the data is also needed to understand what kind of a cleanup may be needed in the future and to make a case to the Environmental Protection Agency that the area may be eligible for a superfund site – a designation the agency has previously denied. 

The sewage crisis is a decades-long issue that has escalated in the last few years. Since 2018, billions of gallons of sewage laced with chemicals have been pouring into the river near South Bay communities.

In 2024, with the help of community input, scientists identified the Saturn Blvd. hotspot as an area where the pollutants in the water are being churned into aerosols, contaminating the air within residential neighborhoods and near schools.

Last year inewsource carried out a months-long investigation on chronic health impacts related to the sewage, interviewing more than 100 residents who say they and their neighbors are getting sick. Doctors have been calling on an epidemiological study to understand how to treat and prevent illness related to the pollution.

The projects will include:

• $2.5 million to extend a pipeline at the Saturn Blvd. hotspot, reducing the aerosolization of chemicals.
• $2 million to carry out a multi-year epidemiological study.
• $250,000 for a one-year retrospective study to link past data with sewage flows.
• $4 million to expand the Air Improvement Relief Effort (AIRE) program that has been distributing air purifiers to South Bay residents this year.

SDSU Public Health researcher Paula Stigler Granados, who supports all the projects, said in public comment that the purifiers have been improving conditions for residents. 

She added that the gasses have been strongest at night when people sleep, which is when they breathe more slowly and deeply. For this reason, Granados says, purifiers are needed in main rooms and in bedrooms.

Sup. Aguirre reiterated the importance of the filter program in a press release saying the “funding isn’t just a line item; it’s a lifeline.”

In the upcoming weeks, the county supervisors will be working toward establishing a “sewage crisis chief” to help coordinate Tijuana River pollution mitigation efforts.