NEWSOM URGES FEDERAL FUNDS TO AID SEWAGE CRISIS
South County leaders say state, U.S. need to declare emergency over TJ plant
Gov. Gavin Newsom is urging President Joe Biden and Congress to immediately free up $300 million to make urgent repairs to the failing and outdated treatment plant at the U.S.-Mexico border that continues to allow Tijuana sewage to foul South County shorelines, but he stopped short of declaring an emergency.
In letters sent Wednesday to the president, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, he asks that they direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the International Boundary and Water Commission to use the funding Congress appropriated three years ago to repair and expand the federal wastewater treatment plant.
Newsom also requested that they dedicate additional funding via a supplemental appropriations bill and in the fiscal year 2025 budget. Supplemental appropriation bills provide new funding when emergencies arise involving the safety of human life or the protection of property, such as recovering from a natural disaster.
Newsom’s letters stopped short of asking the federal government to declare a state of emergency. He also did not indicate whether he would declare one in California, a move that members of San Diego’s congressional delegation and other South County leaders have urged Biden and Newsom to do.
State coastal commissioners and South County leaders called Newsom’s plea an “inflection point” in recent efforts to direct the federal government’s attention to the issue, but said an emergency declaration remains vital.
“It is an emergency,” said Commissioner Meagan Harmon, whom Newsom appointed to represent the south central coast. “Both a state and federal declaration of such is necessary and it is what the people of
Imperial Beach and the surrounding communities deserve and no less.”
Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre said such declarations would “cut through the appropriations process or cut through the red tape, to make sure that all of the funding that’s necessary (goes) to the plant.”
She added that the state and federal governments should act as swiftly as Philadelphia Gov. Josh Shapiro, who issued a disaster declaration in June following the collapse of a freeway overpass, waiving bidding and contracting procedures to efficiently repair the infrastructure. Biden followed with $3 million in quick-release funds to cover costs.
A Newsom spokesperson said the governor has not declared a state of emergency because “we’re trying to get the federal assistance we need to help address the issue because it’s obviously a federal issue for the most part.”
Reports of sewage leaking from Tijuana into San Diego date to the 1930s, but the Mexican border city’s wastewater system has suffered pipeline breaks and other challenges over the past two years, causing 30 million gallons of partially treated sewage to flow into the Pacific Ocean every day.
The plan has been to expand the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, which the U.S. section of the IBWC operates, using the $300 million. But those funds may now be diverted for deferred maintenance, which could cost up to $150 million.
“This is a cross-border situation,” said National City Mayor Ron Morrison. “The pressure needs to be put on the Mexican government, too. It’s got to be a multi-approach. On our side, we definitely need to declare an emergency because it’s a health emergency.”
The pollution kept South County shorelines, from Imperial Beach to Coronado, closed at a record pace last year and communities there continue to see their beaches shuttered this year. It has changed the way of life for many local families and even training for Navy SEALS and lifeguards.
“Just this past weekend, I was out surfing with my partner and we became sick and he had to call off work,” said resident Lesly Gallegos, who is an outreach coordinator with San Diego Coastkeeper. “It’s not the first time this has happened and many people in the community experience much worse.”
Coastal Commissioners agreed to reach out to the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties to get their formal support in calling Biden to fast-track more spending on the issue.
Wednesday’s efforts come amid other recent actions. In early June, mayors from across the county sent a letter to Biden requesting that he declare the situation an emergency. Later that month, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors declared a local state of emergency — the first-ever on the Tijuana sewage regionally.