“Dear Mr. President,
We need your help because the Tijuana river water is dirty…”
After the first sentence of the letter was drafted, Mónica Arrizón, dual-language first-grade teacher, heard a student’s voice chime in: “and Imperial Beach!”
This is the beginning of a letter that first graders at Sunnyslope Elementary School in Imperial Beach recently composed as a class, asking President Joe Biden for help with a water pollution crisis that has existed here since the Great Depression.
Letter campaign follows investigation
The South Bay Union School District’s letter writing campaign comes after a five-part investigative series by The Coronado News earlier this year. Those stories examined how broken promises by U.S. and Mexican politicians for nearly a century has resulted in the near daily flow of tens of millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Pacific Ocean from Tijuana and into south San Diego County.
The Coronado News found the sewage has created a public health crisis that has routinely shuttered beaches and the local economies of Imperial Beach and Coronado, while sickening residents, U.S. Border Patrol agents and Navy SEALS.
Since the series ran, political leaders from Imperial Beach and Coronado – who were on different paths to correct the problem – have pledged to work in harmony to get the federal government to expedite more funding to stop the sewage flow.
And, the crisis has garnered the attention of U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, who on June 5 traveled to the international wastewater treatment plant to address transborder water pollution in the area.
For far too long, toxic waste and raw sewage have flowed across the border into Southern California, bringing health hazards and environmental threats into our own backyards.”
-U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla.
“For far too long, toxic waste and raw sewage have flowed across the border into Southern California, bringing health hazards and environmental threats into our own backyards,” Padilla said. “It is critical that we build on the federal investments we secured last year in order to implement a comprehensive, long-term solution to improve sewage treatment in both San Diego County and Tijuana.”
The U.S. and Mexico have allocated at least $474 million to fund wastewater infrastructure projects to alleviate the problem, with the U.S. paying nearly 70% of the tab. However, Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre and other officials say the price tag could reach $1 billion to truly solve the pollution crisis.
‘Tell him to try his best.’
As Sunnyslope Elementary is located close to the border in Imperial Beach, many of the students participating in the summer intersession program are very aware of the ocean pollution surrounding their homes — even at first grade.
Before writing letters, Arrizón asked her students to come up with reasons why the ocean needed help. She told them that they were going to bring their thoughts directly to the president.
Together, the class drafted the letter in Spanish and Arrizón was blown away when one student’s voice urged: “And you need to tell him to try his best.”
State of emergency
The South Bay Union School District’s letter writing campaign started with The City of Imperial Beach’s letter to the White House, asking for a state of emergency as of June 1.
The letter was approved during an Imperial Beach City Council Meeting in May.
Council Member Jack Fisher proposed in May that the city reach out to the South Bay Union School District for a student letter writing campaign.
Superintendent Jose Espinoza was motivated and inspired to partner with the campaign and has been crucial in making all of the working pieces come together, said Christina Alton, coordinator of extended learning for the South Bay Union School District.
Alton said the leadership team at SBUSD jumped on the idea of a letter writing campaign as soon as they heard about it because of how much the students are affected by the ocean pollution crisis.
“For every one child that’s writing this letter, they really represent a family affected by the pollution that is taking our natural environment away,” Alton said. “Even though we’re in this tiny little community at the very southern tip of the coast, the stuff that we do every day in the classroom really does make a difference in people’s lives.”
Alton said she can walk to the beach from her office, but she doesn’t even feel comfortable putting her feet in the water.
“I wonder if this is safe for me and my little ones,” she said.
As soon as the issue was brought to the attention of the superintendent, the 11 schools in the SBUSD began writing letters.
“For every child that’s writing this letter, they really represent a family affected by the pollution that is taking our natural environment away.”
-Christina Alton, Coordinator of Extended Learning for the South Bay Union School District.
Those letters, in addition to the ones that are being written in the summer sessions at Sunnyslope, Howard Pence, Central and Mendoza elementary schools, will contribute towards the final submission.
All letters will be consolidated on June 28 along with a video production of the process to be sent to the White House.
Letter writing tied to other learning
The campaign that SBUSD will participate in extensively throughout the three-week summer Intersession program ties heavily to other learning material and summer programs.
The 2021 California Education Code Section 46120 states that for at least 30 non-school days, during intersessional periods, there can be no less than nine hours of in-person expanded learning opportunities per day.
This applies to any school district that has more than 75% of students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch, or are homeless, in foster care or English Language Learners, Alton said.
In-person expanded learning elements include participation in a Pilot Swim and Water Safety Program in collaboration with the new Mar Vista Aquatic Center, a student production of “Little Mermaid” on June 30, and field trips to the Birch Aquarium and Sea World to gather more information about ocean life.
“We used to be able to do different camps at the ocean, like junior lifeguards, even this year was canceled. So we’ve definitely been limited because of our access to the beach,” Alton said.
Not only have the summer intersession program activities been limited due to pollution, but students are personally affected by the pollution living so close to the water.
We got sick
On June 14, approximately 190 students at Sunnyslope Elementary participated in the letter writing campaign, including Arrizón’s first grade class.
A third-grade classroom addressed the problems the students saw in a list on the board:
We don’t like the smell.
We got sick.
Trash kills ocean animals.
Arrizón’s first grade class addressed the ways in which the pollution directly affects them.
She said one student acknowledged that the pollution is “people waste” so they can’t go in the ocean.
Another student said he picks up trash when he goes to the park to help stop it from reaching the beach, Arrizón said.
The students then set to their letter writing.
Drawing national attention
Mitch McKay, Imperial Beach City Councilman and former International Boundary and Water Commission board member, said the letter writing campaign was one of the things that was suggested in the city council to try to draw national attention to the predicament.
McKay personally was affected when his wife Suzanne contracted spinal meningitis from contact with the polluted water in 2017, putting her in the hospital for 12 days.
He said a CDC representative from Los Angeles investigated the case, convinced that her spinal meningitis came from the water, since there were no other vector conditions that would have caused it.
McKay attended high school in Imperial Beach and his three (now adult) children graduated from Coronado High school.
He said he has seen the sewage issue change significantly over the years, now affecting the way that his granddaughter Emmy, 8, can enjoy the beach.
Eliminating all activities of enjoyment
Emmy McKay is homeschooled and enrolled in Julian Charter School.
However, she decided to personally write a letter to President Biden because of the way the water pollution has made her feel sick on a few occasions.
Emmy’s mom, Jessica McKay, said the sewage pollution has completely eliminated all activities of enjoyment on the beach for their family who often visit Imperial Beach but now live in San Diego.
“Not only is the sewage pollution affecting our ocean water, it is also affecting the air quality.”
-Jessica McKay, former Imperial Beach resident.
“From stomach sickness to headaches, we have tried to keep clean and healthy while visiting our favorite place, a place where we create memories and collect seashells, where we learn about sea life and how tides work,” McKay said. “Not only is the sewage pollution affecting our ocean water, it is also affecting the air quality.”
