SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Federal, state and local leaders attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday afternoon marking the start of a reconstruction project for the International Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Tijuana River Valley.
The facility is managed by the International Boundary and Water Commission under an agreement between Mexico and the U.S.
Originally, the plant built in 1997, was supposed to treat up to 25 million gallons of sewage-tainted water coming from Mexico on a daily basis.
Since the plant’s construction, the city of Tijuana has grown rapidly without the necessary sewage infrastructure to keep up with the added population.
Consequently, the treatment plant has not kept pace, which resulted in constant breakdowns until it became outdated in recent years.
“The plant had not been maintained and it’s actually not treating 25 million gallons a day but treating no gallons a day,” U.S. Rep. Scott Peters, D-California said. “I call this crisis one of the most serious environmental disasters in the Western Hemisphere and one that threatens everything from tourism, surfing, national security, nature to public health.”
With money allocated by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement and other funding, the facility is finally undergoing a much-needed makeover.
Currently, $400 million has been secured, with $200 million more needed to finish the project.
“I’m confident we’ll be able to secure the additional funding,” Peters said.
According to the IBWC, the initial stage of the work involves setting up a bypass system to be followed by repair work before expansion of the 70-acre site can begin.
“From awful sewage smells to closed beaches, toxic sewage pollution has hurt our communities for too long,” U.S. Rep. Juan Vargas, D-California said.
The Tijuana River Valley where the plant is located is part of Vargas’ congressional district.
“These upgrades to the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant are a critical step forward in the fight to combat this pollution,” he said.
Both Vargas and Peters say they’ve called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide support to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District as it works to monitor the air quality in communities affected by Tijuana River Valley pollution.
They say the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also looking into the contaminants in the water, soil, and air for a potential connection to reported increases in illnesses and other symptoms along the Tijuana River Valley.
According to the IBWC, when the work is completed, the plant’s capacity will double, and coupled with other sewage mitigation projects south of the border, transborder sewage flows from Tijuana should be reduced extensively.
The work on the plant is expected to take five years to complete.
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