IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. —
Sewage from Mexico flows into the U.S. every time there’s a major rain event, and Wednesday’s rain is no different. Residents in the Tijuana River Valley are fed up.
Local leaders are calling for change and long term solutions as once again, they grapple with the garbage in their backyard.
“The water is chocolate brown with a lot of sediment,”said Leon Benham, the executive director of Citizens for Coastal Conservancy.
Dirty brown water dumped with debris and plastics of all kinds overflowed at Smuggler’s Gulch into the Tijuana River Valley.
“90% of these suspended solids [are] carried out into the ocean,” said Benham.
“[It’s] all kinds of trash, everything that has been sitting on the ground for the last six months or so since the last rain,” said Mitch McKay, the president of Citizens for Coastal Conservancy.
Leaders with the Citizens for Coastal Conservancy met at Hollister Street and Monument Road on Wednesday to see the lingering issue for themselves.
Recently, city leaders from Imperial Beach, Coronado and San Diego went to Washington D.C. requesting $400 million for cleanup and restoration of the TJ River Valley.
“The trash gets captured against the arundo and then the sand cannot move and you get blockages,” said Benham.
Local leaders don’t want a quick fix, but instead a long term solution, as multiple toxins have been found in the water.
“There are 28 chemicals in there that are not natural,” said McKay.
It’s saddening for longtime residents as disgusting water slowly makes its way into our ocean.
“Those are elements of their sewage and it is coming across the border and we are being exposed to it,” said McKay.
Citizens for Coastal Conservancy will meet on Dec. 5 to discuss a game plan.
CONTINUING COVERAGE: Imperial Beach mayor on the Tijuana sewage crisis: "Enough is enough"