SAN DIEGO — The county’s interim top doctor says families in the South Bay are safe to go outside.
The County Air Pollution Control District issued an advisory after independent researchers said they found high levels of hydrogen cyanide in the Tijuana River Valley on Monday.
For the second day in a row, several schools in the South Bay kept kids indoors to avoid possible exposure to toxic gases in the air.
Independent researchers reported high levels of hydrogen cyanide, which can be lethal.
The County deployed its Hazardous Incident Response Team (HIRT), and the County Chairwoman held a news conference to say it found no threat to public health.
“What I want to make sure is that the public understands what the facts are, and the facts today are that people are safe. The odor is horrible. I live in that community, and I know what it is like so it's not enough for me to tell you that nothing is going to happen,” said Nora Vargas, County Supervisor Chairwoman. “I want people to understand is that we have scientists, we have experts and a county that is committed to gathering the data that need to be gathered.”
There’s no question about the sewage crisis in the water: Imperial Beaches have been closed for 1,000 consecutive days.
The latest development happened on Monday. The County Air Pollution Control District issued an advisory after SDSU and UCSD researchers called the Robotics Emergency Deployment (RED) Team from Austin, Texas, and found extremely high levels of hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulfide near the river.
They are independent of the County Health Department.
On Monday, the interim Public Health Officer, Dr. Ankita Kadakia, called for emergency air monitoring and deployed HIRT in coordination with the SDSU and RED Team.
Kadakia said their samples did not show significant levels of toxic gases and did not trigger a public health emergency.
However, they did call on the CDC to do a public health assessment, which could give them more leverage to take public action.
Mark Payne lives on Monument Road where the Tijuana River runs. He said he doesn’t buy that it’s safe and is seeking medical attention.
“Especially in the last few weeks, months, it's been a lot stronger, more like a chemical smell. It makes not everyone feel good,” said Payne. “I went in and got a blood test to see what's because I've been feeling kind of down lately, tired and loss of appetite.”
He said he went on Monday to get his blood tested and is awaiting results.
Meanwhile, the county has handed out 400 air purifiers, and Vargas said she is asking for more federal money to pay for additional filters.
CBS 8 spoke to the County Air Pollution Control Board, who said they are looking closer at the test results but will not provide any comment on further action.
Chairwoman Vargas also serves on the California Air Resources Board and says she wants real-time public dashboards so people can monitor safety conditions daily.
Vargas said they also tested near Berry Elementary and Southwest High School, which is near the sampling sites, and did not find any levels of hydrogen sulfide or hydrogen cyanide.
She explained the discrepancies in findings could depend on where and the time the samples were captured.
The County said its samples were taken on Monday between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
The County set up an FAQ page addressing health concerns in the South Region of the County.
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