Polluted Water a Danger to Mexico and U.S.
La Prensa San Diego, News Report, Katia Lopez-Hodoyan, Posted: Feb 24, 2005
Part One of Two
(To read part two of this series click here.)
SAN DIEGO – The day after Serge Dedina and his sons went surfing off the coast of San Diego, they learned that they had gone swimming in sewage-contaminated water. But when they saw signs along the beach warning of the dangers of going in the ocean, they weren’t surprised.
For years, San Diego County’s beaches have been an ending point for raw and treated sewage from the neighboring city of Tijuana. Since the ocean knows no borders, sewage drifts from one country to another.
For many Imperial Beach and Coronado residents, sewage spills are not a new problem. They have been a serious concern that for decades has merely expanded into the realm of the region’s economy, tourism industry and health standards.
Serge Dedina, Ph.D., Executive Director of Wildcoast Conservation Team, knows about these dangers first hand. Among the many files on his desk are newspapers from 25 years ago, in which protests against the sewage-contaminated water made the front page. Although years have passed since then, there is still no solution.
“We have been fighting this for years,” says Dedina. “People feel comfortable here in Imperial Beach because there is a relaxed ambiance that attracts families, teens and surfers. The problem is that it’s really hard to enjoy when the ocean is contaminated with waste.”
Roughly half of Tijuana’s residents are connected to the municipal sewage system in that city which treats and breaks down the millions of gallons of raw sewage every day. The problem, however, is the treatment plant for the other half of the population.
In a city of over two million people, half the population is not hooked up to the sewage system plant and depends on the Tijuana River Estuary to dispose of their waste.
In 1990 Mexico and the United States agreed to a bi-national plan to treat surplus sewage from Tijuana on North American soil. As part of this agreement, a concrete channel would receive the uncollected sewage from Tijuana. Millions of gallons would then drift into the International Wastewater Treatment Plant where the sewage would receive primary detoxification treatment. When this phase is completed, the impure water (at this point, no longer sewage water) would be disposed of in the Pacific Ocean where the bacteria will eventually die off.
But for years it hasn’t worked this way.
The International Wastewater Treatment Plant located in San Ysidro only has a maximum capacity of 25 million gallons per day. When it rains, the combination of rainfall and sewage-contaminated water far exceeds the plant’s limitations. As a result, millions of gallons of raw sewage flow into the ocean. They are disposed of with no processing and no regulation.
The International Boundary and Water Commission, which owns the treatment plant in San Ysidro, says this dilemma is not unique.
“The plant is not designed to receive storm water,” says Sally Spener, spokesperson for the International Boundary and Water Commission. “In fact, I can’t think of a sewage treatment plant that is designed to do so... There are oil, grease and waste flowing by the millions from the channel into the plant.”
One of the main reasons this problem has persisted is the rapid growth of Tijuana. Every day migrants arrive in search of jobs or with the hope of crossing into the United States illegally. Inevitably, they end up building homes there with no regulation or connection to the proper sewage system.
Those affected by this health issue are not only beach-goers in San Diego Coastal waters, but families in Tijuana that literally live next to the raw sewage flowing from the Tijuana River Estuary. Next to the contamination, children play, families gather and the population increases.
“The kids in these ‘colonias,’ or communities, are basically forced to play near sewage because there is not enough recreational space in Tijuana,” says Dedina. “So what you have is no park space and tens of thousands of children who are exposed to raw toxic sewage... We have a bi-national system that is broken down.”
The irony is that children from humble homes of Tijuana play next to the same toxic sewage water that children from affluent homes in Imperial Beach and Coronado in San Diego County swim and surf in. It has developed into a singular bi-national health issue that goes beyond border regulations or immigrations politics.
Following a rainfall, several fishermen can be seen atop the Imperial Beach pier on a cloudy morning. Signs are posted on the outskirts of the beach, but not on the pier itself. The majority are Hispanic and Filipino fishermen who have little if any knowledge of English. Nonetheless, they press their luck to see if they will be able to catch a meal.
“Talking about sewage water is for some reason embarrassing for people,” says Dedina. “It’s not something people talk openly about because it’s taboo. We need to put up signs on the pier and in more than one language.”
Recent rainfall in San Diego County has triggered some of the worst sewage spills in recent memory. The Department of Environmental Health issued several releases in past weeks warning beach goers of contamination involving human bacteria, viruses and protozoa. Currently, the County’s website shows 12 local beach sections in Imperial Beach, Coronado and the Border Field State Park that are closed due to sewage spill: a situation proved to be triggered by rain.
“When it rains, Tijuana just washes out into the channel,” says Dedina. It’s incredible.”
The pollution tests are conducted by the San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography who observe the direction of the water flow. If the current is moving north, the water is most likely coming from the Tijuana River and thus is contaminated. According to Clifton, it usually takes around 72 hours for the bacteria to die off. It is unlikely for pollutants to reach beaches other than those of Imperial and Coronado because both time and waves disintegrate the bacteria before it travels beyond these city limits.
The state board sued the IBWC in 2001, in an effort to change the IBWC plant operations for its failure to comply with clean water laws. On December 6, 2004, U.S District Judge Barry Moskowitz signed an order that mandates the construction of a secondary plant where sewage will receive further detoxification treatment. According to court orders, the contract for the facility should be awarded by December 19, 2005. The treatment is set to begin on September 30, 2008.
“IBWC has always intended to have secondary treatment,” says Spener, “but it’s a relatively new process. A decade ago, primary sewage treatment was advanced and before that, in the 1990’s there was no treatment for sewage at all.”
California Congressman Bob Filner is currently heading a federal proposal to build a new sewage plant on U.S. soil for the treatment of Tijuana waters. Although no official agreement has been reached over what company will build the plant, a controversial multi-million dollar project by the corporation Bajagua seems to be first in line. In the meantime, residents, beachgoers and tourists await a solution to a problem that has for decades forced them to stay out of the water.
This author developed this piece as part of an environmental fellowship
program run by NCM with funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation's New Constituencies for the Environment initiative.
To read part two of this series click here.
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