2 weeks Ago
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin was very direct this week in urging Mexico to expedite action — and spending commitments — on plans aimed at resolving the decades-long cross-border Tijuana sewage spills “once and for all.” Far from lashing out, Zeldin took a diplomatic approach and later said he had a “promising” outlook after pressing a sense of urgency upon Mexican officials to follow through on their government’s agreements with the U.S.
At least in his public comments here on Tuesday, there wasn’t the hot tone of some of Zeldin’s earlier social media posts on the issue, nor did he embrace threatening actions against Mexico proposed by some local officials, such as limiting cross-border commerce or withholding water transfers to Tijuana if a resolution doesn’t happen soon. But he was adamant that Mexico live up to its commitments and didn’t rule out consequences if it doesn’t do so. Still, as much as Zeldin stressed this is a problem created in Mexico that has disastrous impacts on Imperial Beach and other San Diego border communities, he clearly supported the ongoing binational plan to stop the toxic flows.
The U.S. federal government has appropriated $650 million toward the cause.
Zeldin also said plans are being put in place to expedite projects on both sides of the border. The EPA administrator has been on a tour of U.S.
border areas in recent weeks and his visit to San Diego was jam-packed. On Monday evening, he met with Mexican Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources Alicia Bárcena and other Mexican officials. On Tuesday, he went on an early-morning tour of the overwhelmed and frequently broken South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant just north of the border.
Later that day he participated in a roundtable discussion with local officials, held a lengthy news conference, went on a helicopter tour of the Tijuana River Valley and met with Navy SEALs who sometimes train in the South Bay area’s polluted waters, which has caused some of them to become ill in the past. He said in “just a few minutes of talking through creative solutions” with Bárcena, they shortened the timeline for a wastewater diversion facility by a year. “The conversation I had with Mexican authorities was promising and I hope this is the start of a new collaborative relationship of transparency and honesty and one laser-focused on cleaning up the river and keeping it clean for decades to come,” he said in a statement later.
“Sewage spill” is the catch-all term for flows that also include trash and toxic chemicals. In addition to contracting illnesses, U.S.
border agents have talked about boots melting from the pollution. Maquiladora plants and other factories have been blamed for some of the nonhuman waste in the spills. At the news conference, Rep.
Mike Levin, a Democrat who represents a portion of north San Diego County, responded to a question about whether U.S. companies in Tijuana that contribute to the pollution should share in the infrastructure costs.
“I think that that is a reasonable consideration,” Levin said, according to Tammy Murga of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Levin, like other members of the San Diego delegation, has been increasingly involved in seeking solutions to the border pollution. “I think that there are any number of creative and reasonable things that we could do in collaboration with our ally that isn’t so, you know, draconian as to say we’re gonna shut the border down,” Levin added.
South Bay Republican officials supported a resolution approved by the Imperial Beach City Council last week that urged more immediate action to stop the sewage spills. The resolution also calls for limiting cross-border commerce and restricting potable water deliveries to Tijuana if the problem isn’t solved. Tijuana imports the vast majority of its water from the U.
S. Such ideas have unsettled some business leaders. “Limiting cross-border activity even temporarily would have serious impact repercussions for our region,” said Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce CEO Marcy Weaver, according to Fox 5 San Diego.
The day before Imperial Beach Councilmember Mitch McKay introduced the resolution, county Supervisor Jim Desmond, a fellow Republican, called for limiting cross-border travel and water shipments. Desmond, who has announced he is running for Congress against Levin next year, also attended the news conference. Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, a Democrat, was the lone “no” vote on the resolution.
Aguirre wasn’t invited to the roundtable or news conference, but apparently crashed the plant tour and joined Zeldin, telling the administrator of the health effects and other impacts on her city, which has experienced near-constant beach closures and nauseating odors because of the pollution. John McCann, the Republican Chula Vista mayor running against Aguirre for county supervisor, appeared at a news conference last week in support of the resolution. McCann also participated in the Zeldin news conference and roundtable on Tuesday, along with other municipal and county officials, most if not all of whom were Republicans.
Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Bonsall, and San Diego Democrats Sara Jacobs and Juan Vargas and Levin also joined Zeldin at some points on his trip. “This isn’t a partisan press conference,” Zeldin said, acknowledging the Democratic congressional members.
“This isn’t a partisan day.” As for the partnership with Mexico, Bárcena said in a post on social media that she had a “very productive meeting” with the EPA administrator. Zeldin said Bárcena indicated that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her administration are “fully committed to doing their part to resolving this issue,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
At the end of Zeldin’s visit, there was considerable optimism that the push for relief from border sewage spills is gaining traction at the highest levels of the U.S. and Mexico governments.
The EPA has not been immune to the Trump administration’s deep cuts in federal agencies and there has been uncertainty about how that might affect the border funding. Still, over the years, there have been some upswings in momentum toward a real solution, but more setbacks. As they have before, San Diegans are waiting to see what kind of follow-through happens on both sides of the border.
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