SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Local leaders are now calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to do something about the smell of sewage in the South Bay.
More than a dozen mayors from San Diego County sent a letter to his office last week asking him to declare a state of emergency.
ABC 10News spoke with Paloma Aguirre, the Mayor of Imperial Beach. When asked about the next steps as they wait for government assistance she became visibly emotional.
“We don’t have a set deadline to where we are going to take the next action but what is the next action? Do we have to call on other countries for help? That’s how desperate I feel.”
RELATED: IB mayor calls on Newsom to declare emergency following sewage crisis
As tear started to flow from the mayor’s eyes, she added “What’s it going to take, someone dying? We’re desperate here. We’ve done everything the right way. I have families getting sick.”
Mayor Aguirre says they will continue to be patient but they are running out of options.
Other local leaders stood in solidarity with Aguirre Wednesday morning.
The latest call for the governor to declare a state of emergency comes a week after a letter was sent to his office signed by 18 mayors in San Diego County. The leaders say they need the governor to issue an emergency declaration to receive funding to fix the issues at the plant and along the Tijuana River Valley.
$350 million in federal funding was allocated recently for repairs but the process hasn’t started yet. A bid for contractors will begin in the fall.
