Federal water-quality officials on Thursday released a list of actions taken in recent years to stop wastewater from flowing from Mexico into the San Diego region, a little more than a week after the city of Imperial Beach threatened a lawsuit.
South Bay communities have expressed frustration for months with sewage spills in Tijuana that have routinely fouled beaches north of the border, as well as the U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission tasked with preventing such pollution.
“We want people to know that we have been actively working with Mexico to address the sanitation issues that’s affecting San Diego,” said Lori Kuczmanski, spokeswoman with the IBWC. “We have done substantial work over the years and we continue to do substantial work to address the issues.”
Last week, Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina said his city was preparing to sue the agency for failing to properly address the situation. U.S. Border Patrol agents who work in the impacted area have also came out in support of the city’s actions.
Among IBWC’s list of accomplishments are ongoing efforts to secure millions of dollars for the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plan that serves Tijuana, improvements to the binational sewage spill notification protocols and a recently drafted plan to map key sites prone to spills.
Long-held frustrations by residents of Imperial Beach came to a head in February, after millions of gallons of sewage poured into the Tijuana River south of the border and fouled beaches as far north as Coronado.
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