SAN DIEGO — Is the federal government violating its own clean water act when it comes to our border sewage crisis?
A couple of environmental groups said yes, and they’re taking their case to court.
The Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation and San Diego Coastkeeper filed a lawsuit Thursday against International Boundary & Water Commission (IBWC) and Veolia Water North America for violations of the Clean Water Act and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit.
Anna has lived in the South Bay for decades. She said her family hasn’t been to their local beach in years because of the sewage issues in the water.
“I took my son a long time ago and he got sick to his stomach. It’s a shame. Such a beautiful, beautiful beach,” Anna advised.
“There’s a bad smell here. It’s terrible,” Anna said about life in South Bay communities. “And I’m sure people are getting sick from it. (The lawsuit) is absolutely necessary. All these people here in San Ysidro have been suffering. All the values for the houses in Imperial Beach are going down. And it’s (the contaminated water) going to go all the way to Coronado.”
The IBWC is being sued over water quality permit violations. Environmental groups say the violations led to rampant sewage polluting San Diego’s southernmost shoreline and destroying beaches.
“I don’t know why they don’t pay attention to Imperial Beach and our border. We give so much tax money that it should be used to clean our waters,” Anna sighed, disappointed.
Phillip Musegaas is the Executive Director for Coastkeeper. He said they’re bringing the lawsuit on behalf of the people of the South Bay communities who deal with the effects of the IBWC’s negligence firsthand.
“We need a court order because we have no confidence in this federal agency to do it’s job,” Musegaas said.
“This field ends up becoming a giant garbage dump every time it rains,” Musegaas said as he pointed to piles of trash and debris that were picked up out of a pond of water just north of the wastewater treatment plant near the border.
Musegaas said the water in the area is filled with fecal bacteria, heavy metal and toxic chemicals, and in some areas, you can see it flowing freely across a street after it rains near the Tijuana Estuary.
“There’s some areas where the plastic trash and Styrofoam is 15 to 20 feet thick,” Musegaas shared.
The IBWC and Veolia operate the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant that’s supposed to keep Tijuana’s sewage out of San Diego. It’s designed to treat 25 million gallons of Tijuana’s wastewater before releasing it into the ocean.
The plant takes more wastewater than it can handle because of issues with Tijuana’s failing infrastructure. Heavy rainfall also becomes a factor because the South Bay deals with all of the resulting clogs, and the partially treated water runs into the nearby ocean water, leading to contact closures.
Musegaas said the problem has been decades in the making, so the fix may take some time. He expects the suit will be adjudicated by the end of the year.
To check and see if the beach near you is open or is experiencing a contact closure because of contamination, click here.
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