SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Coronado Unified School District is suing the operator of the South Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant over the ongoing sewage crisis.
While the South Bay region has been primarily impacted, the City of Coronado has also been affected, as beach closures extended to Coronado. A recent report also raised concerns about Navy SEAL candidates being exposed to contaminated water during training.
In its lawsuit, Coronado Unified claims that the exposure to contaminants is affecting students and staff.
"They have a significant number of students falling ill on a daily basis. They're in the nurse's office, they're sent home, and it's all because of the sewage crisis in Imperial Beach and all because Veolia does not do their job," said William Shinoff, the district's lawyer.
The district is seeking damages to cover medical treatment costs and to pay for medical monitoring.
In response, the plant operator said lawyers should go after the source of the problem instead of the company trying to solve it.
"The people of South San Diego County are deeply affected by Tijuana's unchecked sewage crossing the border. The plaintiffs in this case would be better served if their lawyers pursued the source of the problem instead of the company trying to solve it," said Adam Lisberg, the senior vice president of external communications for Veolia. "The untreated sewage plaguing San Diego comes directly from Mexico through the Pacific Ocean and the Tijuana River, not the South Bay International Wastewater treatment plant. The claims in this lawsuit are misplaced, and Veolia's hard-working local employees do not deserve to be blamed for the Mexican government's failures."
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Veolia says the South Bay plant treats up to 25 million gallons of sewage flowing from Tijuana per day, and current repairs to the plant will double that capacity.
Lisberg also says the South Bay plant is the only functioning system that protects San Diego from the Tijuana sewage.
