Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin committed the Trump administration to “a permanent, 100% solution to the decades-old Tijuana River sewage crisis” in a new agreement signed with Mexico on Thursday.
“I smelled for myself that foul smell that so many residents of Southern California have been complaining about for so long,” Zeldin said, adding that President Trump was highly motivated after hearing from Navy Seals who must train in the polluted waters of the Pacific Ocean where the Tijuana River meets the sea.
“Today, what we are demonstrating is that, yes, it can be done,” said Mexico Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources Alicia Bárcena, preparing to sign the memorandum of understanding, or MOU.
Pollution in the 120-mile long river has been so egregious that recent studies have shown that even the air above the river or the spray where it reaches the surf is dangerous.
The Tijuana River begins in Baja California, Mexico, and discharges into the ocean at Imperial Beach. The pollution consists of sewage, including drugs and pharmaceuticals that people ingest, plus industrial discharges.
According to the agreement, Mexico will shake loose $93 million in money it previously committed, known as “Minute 238 funds.” Deadlines for several long-discussed improvements will also come sooner — some this year — it says. One example is the 10-million gallons per day of treated effluent that currently flows into the Tijuana River from the Arturo Herrera and La Morita wastewater treatment plants and will now go to a site upstream of the Rodriguez Dam, southeast of Tijuana.
Zeldin said technical experts, leadership and U.S. staffers identified these as high priorities. The MOU also commits the two countries to taking into account Tijuana’s growing population, to make sure that infrastructure improvements are not outstripped by changes on the ground.
“This is a massive step forward for the Tijuana River,” said Tom Kiernan, president and chief executive of the environmental group American Rivers. It has listed the river as the second most endangered in the U.S.
Kristan Culbert, associate director of California river conservation at American Rivers, said she hoped the MOU negotiated by this administration “will be the catalyst for a major turnaround for this river. The people and wildlife that depend on it deserve clean water and healthy ecosystems.”
Others, like San Diego County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, question whether pollution from the Tijuana River flows would actually cease. “The reality is that the Trump administration also could be doing more on our side,” said Aguirre, who is also a former mayor of Imperial Beach.
These concerns may be warranted, as researchers have previously raised concerns that treatment at wastewater management plants only removes bacteria, not harmful chemicals.
Zeldin stressed cooperation with his counterpart, Bárcena. When asked about leverage that will assure changes are made, Zeldin cited money that could be withheld by the U.S.
He emphasized it’s the first agreement between the two governments under this administration. “We’re very proud of that,” he said.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
