ESCONDIDO (KGTV) - The City of Escondido declared a local emergency Sunday to address what they call significant environmental and public health concerns.
Right now, the parking lot at the Church of God in Escondido is empty but Monday, it will be filled with nonprofit organizations, ready to transport homeless people living at Escondido Creek and clean out the area at Harmony Grove.
"Our outreach partners they're concerned not just with temporary housing but sobriety services as well, and just helping people get their lives back together," said Escondido Police Lieutenant Jeff Valdivia.
Behind the fence next to the parking lot is what's called "The Jungle" encampment where people are living in the presence of trash and human waste, which impacts the quality of the water in the creek.
"As the camp sites are vacated, then our public works department is going to come behind the police department and start cleaning them up," said Valdivia.
Recent water quality test results show multiple forms of bacteria are at unsafe levels. One location recorded a bacteria at more than 23 times the acceptable standard.
Organizations like Turn Behavioral Health Services, Serenity House, Love Esco and San Diego Rescue Mission will help people and clean out the space.
"Give us the room to work right now," said Valdivia. "There's going to be a lot of police vehicles, public works trucks that are trying to move a lot of things out of the area. So obviously we're going to need the roadway on the creek. And then of course, there's also the concern, we don't want people going to the creek right now. It's just not safe."
At 4 p.m. Monday, the City of Escondido will hold a special council meeting to ratify the emergency proclamation.
The city will also request to allocate $4 million to address the public health and environmental risks in the area.
