Locals across San Diego are planning to protest the sewage pollution from Tijuana, Mexico affecting the livelihoods in southern California beach cities on Friday afternoon in Coronado.
Environmental groups Stop The Sewage, Emerald Keepers, and Surfrider Foundation are working with community members and 40 different groups to hold a beach protest rally at 4 p.m. on the Coronado Central Beach, near G Avenue and Ocean Boulevard.
Organizers hope the event will encourage Coronado, San Diego, and Imperial Beach leaders to demand that Gov. Gavin Newsom declare a state of emergency and for Congress to act on an environmental crisis that has existed for nearly 100 years.
Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre earlier this month told The Coronado News that all 18 city mayors in San Diego County are in the process of drafting a letter to Newsom related to the recent efforts to request a state of emergency.
Pressure follows Coronado News inquiry
This community pressure follows The Coronado News earlier this year publishing a five-part series that examined the decades of broken promises by U.S. and Mexican officials that have resulted in a polluted ocean and shuttered beaches in Coronado and Imperial Beach. Further, the public health crisis continues to cause widespread illnesses on both sides of the border, including to U.S. Border Patrol Agents and Navy SEALS.
Major news outlets covered a Stop The Sewage protest and press conference earlier this year, which was attended by approximately 100 residents, according to media reports.
Since then, the Coronado group has also asked people who have suffered “adverse health effects” after coming into contact with ocean water in Coronado and Imperial Beach to report their illness for a data-driven initiative to demand change from the CDC and WHO in declaring a public health emergency, according to their website.
Large turnout expected
Event organizers said they are expecting a large turnout for this event; including elected representatives, officials, agencies, clean water activists, and students from Coronado and Imperial Beach.
Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey and Aguirre have been invited, organizers say.
Earlier this month, Newsom wrote letters to Congress and President Joe Biden asking them to expedite allocated funds for immediate use to stop the flow of sewage from Mexico. However, neither has declared a state of emergency.
As parking is expected to be limited in the area, organizers are encouraging the use of MTS 901 whose bus stop at Orange Avenue and Park Place is two blocks from the beach location.
For more information, you may visit the following website: www.stopthesewage.org
