A contractor was finally selected to begin design for repairs at the dilapidated sewage treatment plant at the U.S.-Mexico Border — but local mayors are saying the timeline isn’t fast enough.
The U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) announced Wednesday that it awarded a $42.4 million design and construction contract to repair and expand the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant (SBIWTP).
A Long Beach-based company, PCL Construction, was awarded the contract and it selected Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. of San Diego as the design firm.
The plant provides secondary treatment for up to 25 million gallons per day of Mexican sewage, discharging the effluent into the ocean about two miles west of the port at San Ysidro. Completed on the U.S. side of the border in 1999, it was designed to deal with wastewater contamination of the Tijuana River, but has frequently been overwhelmed and subject to system failures.
The first phase of the expansion project, covered by the $42.4 million, involves design work. The complete multi-phased project will cost an estimated $600 million.
This will include fixing several sections of the plant that continually break down, ultimately doubling the current treatment capacity to 50 million gallons per day.
Officials said the entire project could take five years to complete, and the design phase will be completed in 20 months. They also said some construction is anticipated to begin this year.
“With the design-build contract just awarded and shovels going in the ground this year on smaller projects, this is truly meaningful progress,” Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey said. “Is it as fast as we would like to see? Of course not… The truth is, if we as a city had been working on this issue 20 years ago it would’ve been solved today.”
Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre said the projected timeline is unacceptable, especially considering the project was initiated with funds appropriated in the federal budget year 2020.
“It is incomprehensible that it takes nearly a decade for federal agencies to implement a wastewater treatment project that is already a decade overdue,” Aguirre said. “Even more concerning is that the project does not include any critical infrastructure to divert and treat polluted water from the Tijuana River.”
Officials said the contractor expects to decrease the proposed timeline by as much as 18 months and the plant will remain in operation throughout design and construction.
“Addressing the water quality of the estuary, beach closures, and public health concerns of South Bay residents is a priority for the IBWC,” said U.S. Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner. “The Biden-Harris Administration’s requests for the additional funding necessary to complete the rehabilitation and expansion of our plant demonstrate this priority is shared throughout the administration.”
Giner said IBWC plans to provide updates on a regular basis at citizens forums and on the agency’s website
