SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The EPA's visit to the South Bay to see the sewage crisis firsthand is something both the U.S. and Mexican governments are calling productive, vowing together to finally accelerate a plan to solve the problem affecting people for decades.
New video posted on X (formerly Twitter) gives us an inside look at the meeting between EPA administrator Lee Zeldin and his counterpart, Alicia Bàrcena, the Mexican Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources.
Bàrcena says Mexico has made an enormous effort on its part, stating that it has just finished construction on the San Antonio de Los Buenos wastewater treatment plant in Tijuana. She says that was a $38 million investment that will allow for more than 800 liters of wastewater to be treated per second.
The day after Zeldin's visit and the meeting between the two governments, Bàrcena stopped by the Tijuana plant.
Bàrcena also says Mexico will prioritize redirecting treated water from two plants in Tijuana to a dam to avoid its discharge into the Tijuana River. She said projects underway should be accelerated and completed by 2027.
Zeldin spoke exclusively with ABC 10News during his visit.
"We're coming here with an incredible sense of urgency to have a solution that can be executed to permanently end this," said the administrator.
Barcena says Mexico's president is committed to moving forward with future agreements and working cooperatively with the U.S.
