SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A handful of residents who live near the Tijuana River Valley protested the smell of sewage coming from the river.
Signs with messages: "We want clean air to breathe," "Enough," and "Another Year, when will it stop." This was for a protest organized by San Ysidro Resident Olga Espinoza.
It's the third protest she's put together about the Tijuana River crisis and the smells from the river that's impacting her and her community.
"It's the beginning of the rainy season and the little heat wave, I can't do it no more," said Espinoza. "It smells really bad. And we were outside, and it was in the evening. And my dog was doing weird things, and my son was like, what's that smell? It's the sewer. It's about to start again."
Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre is protesting, too. She said she hears residents' concerns about what needs to be done, and said the Trump administration and Governor Newsom need to help solve the problem.
"We're hearing people who have COPD and chronic pneumonia and sinus situs and migraines," saids Aguirre. "These are all consistent with exposure to all of these pollutants. What's it going to take? We need our federal government to come down here, do a tour of the area, declare a state of emergency, and divert and treat the river."
Earlier this month, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin tweeted that Mexico should, "Honor its commitments to control this pollution and sewage."
But, as ABC 10News reported last week, the EPA denied Mayor Aguirre's request to designate the Tijuana River Valley as a superfund site for a second time.
Although, Zeldin now said he wants to visit the region himself.
For now, Espinoza said she's at the brunt of the crisis.
The smells are debilitating and she wants something to be done.
"This is like a world issue," said Espinoza. "It's like our border town, it smells disgusting. Something has to be done fast, we can't do this."
