SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — A trash boom measuring 450 feet in length has been installed on the Tijuana River channel just north of the border, a project that has been in the works for 20 years.
Two years ago, funding was finally secured to build it.
“The cost is about $4.7 million,” said Oscar Romo, the trash boom’s project manager.
A binational environmental group called Alter Terra and other agencies such as the California Water Resources Control Board, San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, and U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission were involved with the project.
As of now, the boom sits on the river bottom, but as the water levels rise, the boom will float to the surface.
“When the water comes in it will skim the surface collecting all the floating trash, heavy trash will go under because this is not designed to do that,” said Romo. “It’s textiles, plastics and other debris that float on the water, the idea is to capture and control the trash that otherwise will be going through the valley and into the ocean.”
The trash, tires and other debris that is stopped by the boom will be gathered when the river bed dries up and taken to the landfill, according to Romo.
The trash boom includes 150 separate sections that will float to the surface of the river and stop debris and trash floating on the water. It is 450 feet long. (Salvador Rivera/Border Report)
“Between 10 and 14,000 cubic yards of trash, it’s a lot, all of this is coming from different areas in Tijuana.”
Coincidentally, the 150 individual sections that make up the boom are all made with recycled materials.
“The shells are made up of high-density plastic that we collect in Tijuana, we process it into sheets and then we use it to build these trash booms.”
Other similar but smaller booms have been placed in canyons to collect trash that comes in from Mexico. However, one this size, just inside U.S. territory, had never been installed.
“It will remain in place for two years, then it will be evaluated before a permanent one is installed,” said Romo. “This boom is important because it will stop a lot of plastics that break up in the ocean that are eaten by fish, stuff that will eventually get into us.”
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