Local leaders announced Thursday that they had sent a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency requesting help with the Tijuana Sewage Crisis in the South Bay.
County Board Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer said, “Earlier this morning, we submitted our petition to the EPA for them to come and investigate whether the Tijuana River Valley should be declared a Superfund site.”
A superfund allows the EPA to enter a declared ‘hazardous waste site’ area and clean up the contamination to help protect people’s health.
If that were to happen, the EPA would first have to do inspections to determine if the South Bay rises to level of a Superfund designation.
The mayor of Imperial Beach, Paloma Aguirre, said, “A superfund designation will unlock critical federal resources, expertise, and accountability to remove the toxic contaminates that have poisoned our soil, water, and air for generations.”
The request to the EPA included testimonies from 500 residents living in Coronado, Imperial Beach, and beyond.