In a press conference held last Thursday, Jan. 22, next to the Tijuana River, San Diego County Supervisors Terra Lawson-Remer and Paloma Aguirre announced a new $4.75 million funding proposal to address the state of emergency in the river valley caused by sewage overflow.
The supervisors proposed drawing this $4.75 million in funding directly from San Diego County emergency reserves. According to this plan, $2.5 million of the funding will be allocated toward new infrastructure — including a new pipeline extension at Saturn Boulevard — to mitigate pollution.
The remaining $2.25 million apportioned by the proposal would fund public health studies with the goal of understanding how the crisis impacts South Bay residents.
“To go a little deeper, this plan will first launch an unprecedented health study in partnership with regional health centers and hospitals to document, track, and connect pollution exposure to health symptoms our community is experiencing,” Aguirre said during the press conference.
Pollution in the Tijuana River and the surrounding area has worsened in recent years. The UCSD Guardian reached out to Paula Stigler Granados, an associate professor and division head of environmental health at San Diego State University’s School of Public Health, for information on the severity of the crisis.
“[My research team is] documenting alarmingly high rates of reported health symptoms among residents and workers in affected areas: 76% report upper respiratory issues, 84% experience headaches, 70% suffer sleep disturbances, 68% have gastrointestinal illness, and 69% report allergic reactions,” she wrote. “These aren’t abstract statistics; they represent families who can’t sleep at night, workers missing days of employment, and children kept indoors to avoid toxic exposures.”
Granados also said that in recent years, there have been a larger volume of sewage spills across the border, more closures at Imperial Beach, and elevated levels of hydrogen sulfide in the air around the Tijuana River Valley in her written statement.
Aguirre explained during last week’s press conference that the proposed temporary pipeline extension at Saturn Boulevard could help mitigate some of the air quality concerns. A longer pipeline under the water’s surface at that location would result in better air quality by directly reducing the amount of hydrogen sulfide released into the air.
“By extending these pipes below the water’s surface, we can stop the churn, the turbulence that is sending, or rather, shooting up into the air, hydrogen sulfide and other toxic gases and toxic pollutants into the air,” she said.
In her statement to The Guardian, Stigler Granados added that hydrogen sulfide levels in the air near the valley regularly exceed acceptable levels. This means that even residents who are not in direct contact with the water are affected by pollutants that remain in the air people breathe. She also noted that a range of other pollutants, including industrial solvents and pesticides, have been identified in water sampling conducted in the river.
“This crisis disproportionately affects predominantly low-income and working middle-class Latino communities that have historically been under-resourced and overlooked in infrastructure planning,” Stigler Granados said.
“The economic toll is substantial: 22% of residents report missing work due to pollution-related illness, local businesses face downturns from beach closures and negative publicity, and even Navy SEALs training off the coast have become ill from sewage exposure, highlighting how this crosses from environmental justice into national security concerns.”
Aguirre also acknowledged last week that the new funding alone won’t solve all of the Tijuana River’s sewage problems.
“We need to be very clear: This is not the final permanent solution,” Aguirre stated. “This is a meaningful step we can take now while we continue fighting for the long-term infrastructure investments our region deserves.”
The Board of Supervisors is expected to review Lawson-Remer and Aguirre’s proposal during its upcoming meeting this Wednesday, Jan. 28.
