The Mayor of Imperial Beach is calling it a last-ditch effort to get the Biden Administration’s help for the sewage crisis in the form of a Federal State of Emergency.
“It needs to be addressed,” said Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre.
It’s not the first time that sentiment has been felt in Imperial Beach.
The Tijuana River sewage crisis has been the main topic at many city council meetings.
Mayor Aguirre has heard it first hand.
“You have the desperate calls from people in the river valley that are being, you know, sent to the emergency room because of chest pains and wheezing. You have, you know, the recreationists that go and try to enjoy the park in the river valley to run to jog to exercise and all they have is watery eyes and sinus congestion,” said Mayor Aguirre.
Now, the Mayor is heading to Washington D.C. to request funding from the White House.
“We are going to do this as a last ditch effort before the Biden Administration exits. Whatever the concerns have been, there's nothing to lose at this point, they're on the way out,” said Mayor Aguirre.
ABC 10News has covered the many attempts in the past to get the government’s attention.
From the Centers for Disease Control coming to do a health assessment, to local second graders taking matters into their own hands.
“Dear President Joe Biden, we have a problem," Naima Bivens said in one of the letters to the White House.
Council Member Seabury saying if it hasnt worked so far, why try again?
The Mayor’s reponse:
“That's the last ditch effort. That does not mean that we're not going to pursue and continue to fight. And now even perhaps with the new lens of optimism, because we have an alignment on the executive and the legislative that more could be done,” said Mayor Aguirre.
The Mayor is expected to go to D.C. to advocate for the Federal State of Emergency on December 17.
