SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — In an effort to garner support from the federal government in addressing the binational Tijuana River sewage crisis, Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre sent a letter to the new EPA administrator requesting the agency to reconsider a superfund clean-up status for the river valley.
Lee Zeldin, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the agency, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate at the end of January. The agency had recently rejected a superfund clean-up designation for the Tijuana River Valley; however, Zeldin mentioned during his confirmation hearings that he would review the sewage crisis after a line of questioning from Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
The EPA's Superfund Program takes action to clean up the country's most contaminated land and serve environmental emergencies, per the agency's website.
In her letter, Aguirre asked Zeldin to "put those words into action" and invited him to see for himself how the South Bay has been affected.
“With new leadership at the EPA, it’s time for a new, urgent action. We can’t waste any time in the fight against the sewage crisis, so I’m urging the EPA’s new leadership to act now so this environmental catastrophe gets the attention it deserves from the new administration," Aguirre wrote. "We also have new data from the federal Centers for Disease Control that shows the crisis is even worse than we thought, so it’s the right time to press for new action from the EPA. The reality is South County’s sewage crisis has been ignored by Democratic and Republican administrations, and we need to fight for change in every way we can.”
WATCH: ABC 10News anchor Kimberly Hunt interviewed Aguirre prior to the letter being sent to D.C. Hear Aguirre's in-depth answers about the issue and her efforts to address the sewage crisis below.
ABC 10News has covered the binational sewage crisis extensively over the years; our cameras were in Imperial Beach on Sept. 3, 2024, as South Bay leaders marked 1,000 days of beach closures due to the contaminated waters.
A CDC survey conducted in Oct. 2024 indicated that nearly 70% of residents interviewed said one or more people in their household had health symptoms from the sewage crisis. Additionally, 71% of respondents said they could smell the stench in their homes, outside and in their neighborhood in general.
Aguirre wrote in her letter that if sewage flooded into La Jolla or Mar-a-Lago, the crisis would've been solved expeditiously.
"Families and workers are literally getting sick because of this sewage nightmare and that must stop," she said. "We’ve made great progress recently, but we have to keep up the fight to fix this disaster for all of South County and I’ll work with anyone and everyone to make that happen.”
- PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Contaminated Coast — An ABC 10News special on the binational sewage crisis
San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer worked with Aguirre and other local leaders to submit the superfund site petition to the EPA in Oct. 2024.
In January, the agency rejected the request, electing not to move forward with assistance efforts or additional review, according to Aguirre's office.
"In its rejection, the EPA did not conduct a site assessment to test current levels of toxic exposure but relied solely on past data and reports," the press release stated.
A $600 million project has been underway at the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant since the end of September. Recently, the International Boundary and Water Commission held a briefing to provide updates on how the project, which aims to expand and fix the plant to address the transboundary flow of wastewater, has been going.
Read the full letter Aguirre sent to Zeldin below:
