SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A Nestor family says the sewage smell in their community has gotten so bad that they now think it's worsening their daughter's health condition.
The Gamboa family says the sewage smell starts to roll in the evening hours and gets even worse overnight.
Regina Gamboa says her daughter, Leah, requires daily breathing treatments. The treatments usually are twice a day, once in the morning and once at night.
However, in the last year and a half, they say the smell has gotten worse, and Gamboa says her daughter now requires the treatments every four hours.
"We’ve had to add things to that. We’ve had to add another type of a treatment that also loosens mucus and a machine that helps her to cough it out of her lungs," says Gamboa.
If Leah doesn't get her treatment on time, Gamboa says it becomes a more serious problem.
"Then we’re in trouble, then we’re doing oxygen, then do we go to the hospital? Do we not go to the hospital?" says the mom of four.
The family has even considered moving. They live in the 92154-zip code and are eligible for the county’s air purifier pilot program.
The program is a lottery that offers air purifiers to people who live in areas impacted by the smell.
Gamboa says she didn't even apply for the lottery and calls the program an insult.
"It’s stupid, it’s a Band-Aid, it’s not a fix-it Band-Aid, that’s a pacifier, in my opinion, to get us to shut up to show that they’re possibly doing something," says Gamboa.
The Gamboa family says using a door draft stopper they found on Amazon has helped keep some of the smell from seeping into their home.
Thursday was the deadline for the IBWC to bring the wastewater treatment plant into compliance.
On Friday, they announced that a second sedimentation tank had been returned online, which should immediately improve the water quality of its treated wastewater.
The IBWC says permit compliance is expected in October.
The IBWC says it expects to have permit compliance in October.
