IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. — Sewage contamination issues in the South Bay have been exacerbated by the recent barrage of rainstorms. According to Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, beach closures on the south end of Imperial Beach have carried on for more than 800 consecutive days.
“Not seeing people being able to enjoy the water is probably the most troubling and then the health effects as well,” said Chula Vista resident, Tim Hunt, who visits Imperial Beach three times a week.
“You can even tell the difference in the water, you know, the color is all green and then you go out a little further and then it breaks,” said Justin Robuck, who was born and raised in Imperial Beach.
“I’ve been able to come out here when I was a kid and we had a really good time going in the water and now I can’t even take my next-generation in the water because we have this crazy pollution going on.”
A new report released by SDSU’s School of Public Health researchers finds that toxic chemicals and microbes from untreated sewage that were once thought to remain isolated in the water, can also linger in soils and be airborne.
“Once that stuff gets into wind, especially the breeze that’s blowing right now, yeah I could see it definitely affecting people who are immuno-compromised,” said Hunt. “My oldest son has asthma, so yeah it’s a big concern.”
According to IB Mayor Aguirre, the storm on January 22 brought 14.5 billion gallons of toxic sewage across the border in the Tijuana River. When heavy rains bring more sewage, more people get sick.
“I’m the one who gets the emails from people who are immunocompromised, their kids,” said Mayor Aguirre. “We actually had a small outbreak of cases of shigella after Tropical Storm Hilary on Seacoast Drive. We had the residents approach us and tell us, ‘I was actually hospitalized for 4 days, right.’”
Congressman Scott Peters says Mexico is currently building new wastewater treatment infrastructure that should come online later this year. As for our side of the border, more funding is needed, hundreds of millions of dollars to make repairs and expand our international treatment plant.
“I would love to see our beaches saved and be able to see people out here enjoying it as much as we do,” said Hunt. “But you know, getting in the water is all the fun in going to the beach, right?”
The South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant is supposed to be able to process 25 million gallons of sewage per day, but according to Congressman Peters, it’s capacity is currently less than that due to lack of proper maintenance and equipment failures.
It will cost $650 million to repair and expand our international treatment plant. $350 million dollars in federal funding has already been secured.
Now, Congressman Peters and other government leaders are seeking additional funding of $310 million dollars from Congress in order to repair the aging sewage treatment plant on our side of the border, while also doubling its capacity to be able to process 50 million gallons per day.
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