Federal and local authorities are ramping up their response to South Bay beach contamination from Tijuana sewage with a public survey, a long-term analysis of pollution and a petition to declare the Tijuana River bed a federal Superfund site.
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues surveying health impacts, Supervisor Terra Lawson Remer officially asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider the Tijuana River Valley for Superfund designation.
This request comes the same month the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) shared plans for a separate program to collect water, sediment and trash along the U.S.-Mexico border through samples from the Tijuana River and canyons.
Meanwhile, the county’s Health & Human Services Agency announced a new online survey by the CDC to ask beach-goers in Imperial Beach and Coronado about their experiences following exposure to the sewage affected areas.
After gathering testimonials from 500 affected residents, a handful of elected officials across San Diego County joined Lawson Remer in a petition asking yet another federal agency to investigate the Tijuana River Valley for harmful toxins in the soil, sediment and groundwater.
Meanwhile, the IBWC said its program this November will test for contaminants such as bacteria, industrial pollutants, pesticides and metals in collected water and sediment samples.
“This monitoring program honors the commitment we made under the board’s time schedule order issued in 2023,” said U.S. Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner in a statement. “Combined with $31 million in repairs at the plant, the $600 million expansion we will soon start … and taking urgent actions to ensure zero transboundary flows during the dry season, the IBWC is taking concrete steps towards pollution prevention in the South Bay area.”
A solid waste survey will also be conducted, in the program’s second and fourth year, for trash in Tijuana’s Smuggler’s Gulch and Goat Canyon, the IBWC announced.
Open health survey
The CDC has already conducted a survey of households and families spanning South County neighborhoods along the Tijuana River Valley.
Now, according to the County Communications Office a second CDC survey will assess chemical exposures from Oct. 21 through Nov. 22.
Both are key to identifying community needs and prioritizing solutions related to sewage pollution exposure in the area, said a county communications officer in a release dated Oct. 21.
“This community deserves better,” said Dr. Ankita Kadakia, the county interim public health officer, in a statement. “By bringing in this federal agency … individuals who live or work near the water have a chance to voice their concerns, their experiences and the impacts to their physical and mental health.”
The online survey, also available in Spanish, can be completed using a computer or a mobile device.
Multi-year program
The IBWC said it awarded the San-Antonio environmental firm, EGC-AGEISS Joint Venture, a five-year, $1.9 million contract to conduct work for the Tijuana River Valley Monitoring Program.
This project satisfies a requirement outlined in the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board-issued permit for the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, reads the Oct. 17 press release from the Commission.
The program is expected to provide answers about how far transboundary flows travel from the U.S.-Mexico border, the circumstances causing pathogens and indicator bacteria to enter the ocean resulting in beach closures, and how transboundary wastewater flows reach the Tijuana River, its estuary and the Pacific Ocean shoreline. The program also will investigate trash pollution generated in Mexico that might flow through the canyon collectors and cross into the valley and estuary.
Frank Fisher, Public Affairs Chief for the IBWC, said the program’s data collection, part of the permit requirement, will be transmitted to the regional water board.
City of Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, a cosignatory in Lawson-Remer’s petition, said the IBWC’s program will limit the monitoring scope to pathogens and solid waste.
“I’m glad that these minute 320 projects, which was signed back around 2012, are finally being funded,” Aguirre said in a statement. “I don’t see how this effort could interfere with a superfund site designation, but actually complement any data being collected by EPA should the Superfund designation qualify to begin its designation process.”
Tijuana River Valley Superfund petition
Lawson Remer announced the submission of the EPA petition on Oct. 24 at a press conference in Coronado.
“We’re really hopeful that the Superfund designation can be a new avenue that can get us some of the relief and the help that we need,” she said.
While county supervisors declined to endorse her letter on Oct. 8, Lawson-Remer announced plans with other colleagues to submit her petition following outreach to gather community testimonials.
Nora Vargas, Chairwoman of the San Diego county Board of Supervisors, who issued a motion delaying the petition requesting community input, issued a statement about the potential declaration of a Superfund site following the announcement of delivery.
“I want community input on decisions that could change the fabric of our community forever,” said Vargas. “The declaration of a Superfund site isn’t a ‘silver bullet’ that will solve all of our issues overnight, and in fact, can pose many problems of its own. For starters, many communities surrounding these Superfund sites have experienced dramatically declining property values. It can also create long periods of uncertainty for local residents and businesses, including potential relocation.”
Lawson-Remer noted the Superfund petition is intended to determine the presence of long-term industrial contaminants that would need to be cleaned up.
Aguirre, who considers emergency declarations at the state and federal levels of government the only action that will bring swift attention to the issue, pledged full support for recent policies brought by Lawson-Remer.
County could sue
Meanwhile, all supervisors agreed with a Oct. 22 proposal from Lawson-Remer to pursue litigation involving the Tijuana River Valley.
“Taking legal action is another lever we can pull to help address this crisis,” Lawson-Remer said in a statement following the board’s vote.
The policy directs the chief administrative officer in consultation with county counsel to explore options to file or join existing litigation against any potential responsible parties, including Veolia North America, for damages caused to the valley region, said Lawson-Remer in a release.
The policy continues: “Litigation options should include, but not be limited to, the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.”
The board heard from those in support and against the county’s move toward legal action.
Under contract with IBWC, Veolia North America operates and maintains the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Prior to the board’s vote to pursue litigation, Adam Lisberg, senior vice president for communications, told the supervisors Veolia has for years recommended additional funding for the plant.
“Scapegoating Veolia’s hard-working frontline employees for political theater does nothing to advance real solutions for the people of San Diego County,” said Lisberg in a statement after the supervisors’ decision. “The root cause of the environmental crisis in the Tijuana River estuary is the decades-long failure of the authorities on both sides of the border to address the surge of unchecked sewage and pollution pouring in from Tijuana in quantities that far exceed the capacity of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant.”
Supervisors voted to direct counsel to update the board in closed session every 90 days about potential suits.
