Supervisor Desmond sends letter to State, Defense departments on sewage crisis

FILE Raw sewage flows along the Tijuana River located between the primary and secondary borders next to Tijuana in San Diego Mike Bake REUTERS San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond sent letters Wednesday to U S Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and U S Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding intervention in the Tijuana River Valley sewage situation The announcement came one day after U S Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin visited with San Diego leaders about the ongoing issues For decades the Mexican establishment has dumped millions of gallons of raw sewage and toxic waste into Southern California harming our beaches sickening our Navy SEALs and threatening our national shield Desmond announced in his letters Enough is enough Desmond s letters to the Departments of Defense and State urged Hegseth and Rubio to visit the limit themselves to see the extent of the obstacle American taxpayers should not be on the hook for a mess Mexico continues to cause Desmond announced Our military readiness is being compromised Beaches are closed Residents are getting sick And Mexico faces no consequence That must change Zeldin s trip to the region included a Monday night meeting with Alicia B rcena secretary of the Conditions and Natural Tools of Mexico and other Mexican representatives for what he stated was a discussion about ending decades of raw sewage entering the U S from Mexico It was clear in the way that the Mexican environmental secretary approached every aspect of this meeting the last evening that she wants to have a strong collaborative relationship Zeldin disclosed I welcome that collaboration He noted he hopes a joint message will be issued in the coming weeks about what Mexican leadership plan to do to help resolve the emergency Local leaders meanwhile plan to compile a comprehensive list of projects needed to end the flow of contamination Zeldin also visited the South Bay International Wastewater Rehabilitation Plant This visit for EPA is very major for us to make sure that we aren t just seeing and hearing first hand on the ground in Southern California but ensuring that the path forward is one of max collaboration and extreme urgency to end a predicament that should have ended a long time ago he declared It s a beautiful day where people should be able to spend an Earth Day not worrying about foul smells in the air population wellness beach closures and so much more Zeldin declared But that s the reality that Americans in Southern California have had to live through for way too long They want action and they re right The meeting was held at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot In fresh years the U S -Mexico boundary sewage garbage concern has closed beaches and caused serious wellbeing issues for selected residents Untreated wastewater from Mexico s Tijuana River crosses the margin into the United States and washes out to sea just south of Imperial Beach The bacterial buildup from raw sewage in the wastewater has necessitated the closure of South Bay beaches almost without interruption for three years In a declaration Monday Rep Mike Levin D-Dana Point explained he looked forward to Zeldin s visit but what matters most of is what happens after he leaves We need action And we need to fix this in a bipartisan way once and for all We can t allow Administrator Zeldin or anyone in the Trump administration to talk about solving this situation while proposing cuts to the very agencies responsible for the cure Department of Cabinet Efficiency and House Republicans have already targeted funding for the International Boundary Water Commission which operates the plant Chula Vista Mayor John McCann who is running for the District county supervisor seat stated he was grateful to have Administrator Zeldin in San Diego to see firsthand the challenges our area faces and to help us push for sustainable long-term solutions I am committed to working alongside Administrator Zeldin to provide innovative solutions that will decisively put an end to this -year emergency McCann added In response to Zeldin s visit to the Tijuana River on Tuesday which was also Earth Day the Transboundary Trash Coalition for Advocacy and Healing circulated a announcement calling the litter a inhabitants healthcare predicament Working families on both sides of the confines have a right to be together outdoors around a healthy river and coastline according to the group The Tijuana River garbage predicament is complex and binational and our community-based coalition is deeply committed to respecting human rights and working collaboratively in both the U S and Mexico The coalition describes itself as representing over community- based organizations leadership agencies and district leaders to drive collective awareness and action on the transboundary impurity problem impacting Southern California and the Tijuana region of Mexico Coalition functionaries stated San Diego U S and Mexican officials need to fund and implement immediate commonsense solutions for a healthy Tijuana River Now is the time to hold all policymakers accountable for common- sense solutions to fix the sewage industrial waste trash hydrogen sulfide and other toxins in our river ocean and air as well as prevent future impacts from atmosphere change and heal our communities that are suffering the greatest harm coalition agents stated