The city of Imperial Beach will hold a special workshop with several government entities regarding the Tijuana sewage crisis on Wednesday evening.
The agencies will provide an update on how the sewage crisis is impacting Imperial Beach and other coastal communities like Coronado at 6 p.m. at the Dempsey Holder Safety Center, 905 Ocean Lane.
This discussion follows a five-part investigative series on the Tijuana sewage crisis by The Coronado News.
That series examined a nearly century-long legacy of broken promises by the United States and Mexico that has resulted in a public health crisis that has affected the economies of Imperial Beach and Coronado while exposing beachgoers, U.S. Border Patrol agents and U.S. Navy SEALS to a myriad of diseases from the fecal-exposed Pacific Ocean.
Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre considers the Tijuana sewage crisis investigation by The Coronado News very informative and well done, however she said the meeting, announced last week, had been in the works since December.
“This is my top priority.”
-Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre on the sewage crisis.
“This is my top priority,” she said.
Aguirre has publicly shared that one of her three priorities in public office is to actively fight cross-border pollution.
EPA among presenters
The meeting will include presentations by:
- US International Boundary Water Commission (USIBWC)
- US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO)
- County of San Diego Department of Environmental Health & Quality (DEHQ)
Aguirre said the meeting was called to make sure the community and Imperial Beach City Council are educated by the experts on the matter.
The meeting agenda, finalized Monday, specified what topic each presenter will share.
Meeting agenda
The IBWC will provide an update about the international wastewater treatment plant.
The EPA will discuss its comprehensive solution and funding to address Tijuana river pollution.
The SIO will cover the science of coastal transport of pollution at the San Diego-Tijuana border region.
The final presenter, DEHQ, will offer environmental health and quality on beach water testing and methodology.
The meeting is expected to last three hours, and the public is welcome to address the board during public comment at the beginning of the meeting. However, comments are limited to items on the special meeting agenda notice.
Earlier this month, Aguirre—the first Latina Imperial Beach mayor—described the pollution by failing sewage infrastructure a “dystopian nightmare” and “the worst environmental injustices any community in America is facing” in a Twitter repost about partially treated wastewater entering the Pacific Ocean at alarming rates.
