A bill signed by President Joe Biden on Dec. 21 sets the stage for more than $250 million in additional upgrades for a dilapidated wastewater treatment plant at the U.S. Mexican border. The funding for the International Wastewater Treatment Plant is an earmarked section of a stopgap bill, which includes more than $100 billion in […]
Investigations
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County investigating correlation of sewage pollution and airborne illness
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors this week directed public health staffers to assist a local task force that is investigating whether airborne pathogens from Tijuana sewage are causing illnesses in Imperial Beach and the South Bay area. Chairwoman Nora Vargas and Vice Chair Terra Lawson-Remer signed a policy directing Public Health Service employees […]
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Q&A: How the county found no ties between sickness and sewage at South Bay Urgent Care
Early this month, San Diego County Public Health Services announced that experts had reviewed medical records in the South Bay and uncovered “no conclusive evidence” that cross-border pollution from Tijuana was causing increased sickness. This finding was based on an “investigation” of records at South Bay Urgent Care Clinic, which had reported a surge in […]
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Mayors lobby for funding to help reduce pollution in local beaches
For the second time in January, local leaders traveled to Washington D.C. to urge congressional leaders to address the Tijuana River pollution crisis in swift and decisive action. On Jan. 28, Coronado City Councilman John Duncan joined City of Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre and Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, to ask congressional leaders to […]
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Ranches flood in the Tijuana River Valley following January storm
As torrential rains swelled the Tijuana River on Jan. 22, ranches north of the U.S.-Mexico border flooded in the morning hours. By afternoon, they resembled large swimming pools of mud. This past week, Mario Bañuelos was still cleaning foot-deep mud and debris from the outdoor kitchen at his family’s leisure ranch in the Tijuana River […]
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Demonstration forms outside Hotel del Coronado for Awaken service
Before Awaken Church held its first “preview service” at the Hotel del Coronado on Jan. 28, around 50 protesters gathered near the hotel’s entrance, lining Orange and Adela avenues from 4 to 5 p.m. Michelle Bjorklund, a Coronado resident who helped organize the demonstration, stood outside the Hilton-owned hotel alongside protesters who chanted “no place […]
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Coronado teens ask Newsom, Biden to declare state of emergency
Gavin Newsom and Joe Biden each got a letter from Coronado High School kids early this month, pleading for help to stop the contamination of San Diego County beaches with sewage from Tijuana. “We need you to declare a state of emergency” are the pleas from Coronado’s youth that made their way first to the […]
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Rep. Peters: Navy SEALs forced to train in polluted waters with human feces
WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Rep. Scott Peters, who represents Coronado, took to the House floor on Jan. 11 to demand that President Biden’s request of $310 million to fix and expand the dilapidated South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant be included in any upcoming spending deal. Peters emphasized the health effects of the crisis, stating: “Air […]
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Sickness uptick raises concerns about sewage in the air
Current and former Imperial Beach residents can agree that a foul scent of sewage makes living in the southern coastal community unpleasant. Beginning in August, South Bay Urgent Care Doctors Kimberly Sheker Dickson and Matthew Dickson noticed a spike in cases of diarrhea and have since tracked severe infections and gastrointestinal issues among their patients, […]
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“Things are going badly for us”
The Coronado News for all of 2023 has investigated a nearly century-long legacy of broken promises by U.S. and Mexican officials that have resulted in millions of gallons of raw sewage flowing regularly into the Pacific Ocean. The environmental crisis not only pollutes the water and shutters beaches, but it also affects sea life and […]
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“We struggle…we grab water from a pipe”
This group of Mexican citizens, who deeply love their country and community, have the same wants – a clean, Pacific Ocean that’s not polluted from sewage – as residents in Coronado and Imperial Beach.
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Researchers in Tijuana work to find solutions to sewage crisis
Researchers inside the Chemistry Graduate and Research Center at the Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana are working on ways to create clean water.
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CIFF premieres “The Big Dump” with calls for help on sewage crisis
There was a theater full of new and years-long advocates pushing for solutions and continued awareness related to the Tijuana sewage pollution criss on Nov. 10.
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Air sensors, storm recover plan in place to help with sewage crisis
Improvements at the international wastewater treatment plant in San Ysidro and new projects are expected to help the transboundary sewage crisis from Tijuana by the end of this year.
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Key official: State of emergency for sewage crisis may not be needed
A key federal official said a presidential state of emergency regarding the Tijuana sewage crisis may not be needed despite a chorus of pleas from local politicians and environmental groups to get such a declaration from the White House. International Boundary and Water Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner on Oct. 31 said a state of emergency from President […]
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Biden pushing for $310 million more to fix coastal sewage crisis
President Joe Biden, following pressure to declare a state of emergency on the Tijuana sewage crisis, has committed an additional $310 million to fix and expand the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant.