SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer on Tuesday plans to present a policy addressing the impacts of the Tijuana sewage crisis to the full Board of Supervisors.
In that policy, Lawson-Remer collaborated with Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre on ways to collect more data that will show proof of the public health crisis in the South Bay.
Their goal is for both the state of California and federal leaders could declare a state of emergency, so funds can be sent over to continue tackling the sewage issue.
"If the board approves this on Tuesday, it goes beyond just requesting more money," Lawson-Remer said in a press conference Monday. "We're going to increase our commitment to protecting our beaches, bays, and coastlines by putting clean water and public health first and foremost."
Lawson-Remer's said her policy recommendations are as follows:
- Launching a first-of-its-kind Community Health Survey examining health impacts beyond direct water exposure
- Development of a Tijuana River Public Health Risk Dashboard
- Development of a local decontamination protocols for sewage contaminated floodwaters
- Collaboration with the Task Force to develop a list of data sources that can support tracking sewage-associated non-reportable diseases.
- Requesting ZIP code level data from the California Breathing Program.
- Enhanced communication with other agencies to increase surveillance and testing under their purview, including the San Diego Regional Water Control Board, Air Pollution Control District, CDPH, and CDC.
- Pursuing additional funding and support to assess the economic and public health impacts of the sewage crisis.
Aguirre said in a press conference at the Tijuana River Estuary on Monday that despite her efforts, conversations at the state and federal levels have not been successful.
"As you may have all heard, I was joined by all 18 mayors in San Diego County, calling on our governor for more action, for more support, for the CDC asking for intervention, and sadly, those calls have been rejected," Aguirre said.
Aguirre said at her second presser Monday with Lawson-Remer that the crisis has already received hundreds of millions of dollars to fix two separate wastewater treatment plants, but the crisis needs to be tackled at its source.
"The primary source of pollution is the Tijuana River itself and that does not have any funding allocated to it," Aguirre said. "There aren't any environmental reviews to assess how to divert and treat the Tijuana River. We are years away from that happening, which is why we need our state and our federal government to declare a State of Emergency."
With this plan to collect more data, Lawson-Remer and Aguirre hope to secure more funding to stop the pollution of the Tijuana rivers
