The agency has issued the same order thousands of times in recent years, with a warning mainly for surfers that they could suffer from ear, eye, throat and skin infections.
But this time the contamination from the spill of sewage that crosses the border from Tijuana draws attention because it was assumed that after decades of having the same transboundary problem, the authorities in Baja California would have finally corrected the situation .
The mayor of Imperial Beach, Serge Dedina, an experienced lifeguard who throughout his career rescued hundreds of Baja Californians on the same beach, told Real America News that the problem of spills already reaches magnitudes in which it is difficult to think that it can be solved.
“The stench on the beach is unbearable, because spills carry organic waste” and sewage, which is dispersed in the beach water but also in the sand, so e The closure is total, no one even goes for walks, “nor would I bear them with that stench,” Dedina declared.
In the spring of last year They closed the access to the Friendship Park, where people are seen through a steel mesh between both sides of the border.
But the closure was not by the border patrol due to the covid- 19, but from the rangers – rangers – from California parks due to high contamination from spills in the Tijuana River Valley, which is on the US side of the border.
“ It was impossible to walk around, it covered a dark black mud that at first glance you could see that it was very contaminated ”, said a patrolman through the wall of pillars to make of 30 feet high.
But one of the worst periods of the problem was recorded or in February of 2017, when Tijuana’s sewage pumps broke down and dumped all the water toward San Diego.
Weeks passed before the authorities in Baja California notified Imperial Beach of the damage. 140 million gallons of sewage had been discharged into California.
Mayor Dedina recalled that, By the time the spill stopped, more than 215 million gallons of water had crossed the border.
The official recalled that “there was a brown stain that covered the sea” from the border to the luxurious suburb of Coronado, facing the San Diego Bay; the navy’s nuclear and aircraft carrier base at North Point.
Several cities sued the federal government over these spills, including Imperial Beach, Chula Vista and National City.
The problem of spills started due to the demographic growth in the municipality of Tijuana.
In the fifties the international commissions of Limits and Water (CILA) of the two countries agreed that on the California side, the waters that crossed the border would be used. Tijuana has an elevation of 90 meters above the California border in that area.
But according The population and production grew in Tijuana, the rainwater, rainwater, not only crossed organic waste abandoned in the streets and sewage, but also, by a step despite the wall, tons of tires, plastics and other waste.
The garbage goes directly to the Tijuana River Estuary, an area protected by the state of California, for flora and birds at risk of extinction.
But if the entire environment were Little, the mayor says that to this are added the economic losses of the city that has tourism among its main attractions.
Every time the health authorities close the beach, it remains closed at least three days. Last year it was closed 295 of the 365 days of the year, although it is one of the favorite beaches of surfers.
Mayor Dedina said in a Tweeter message this week that “apparently, environmental justice is a buzzword that applies everywhere except in the Tijuana river valley, where the dumping of toxic waste and sewage on children, wildlife and the beaches of the Marines is accepted and ignored. ”
Baja California reported that it installed new pipes and pumping systems made in the United States that should have worked, but now it analyzes if those resources were insufficient for the amount of waste that crosses the border.
While the beach of Imperial Beach remained closed this week, the two senators from California, Diane Feinstein and Alex Padilla, presented an initiative that, if approved, will finally solve the problem of spills.
The initiative, Law of P rotection and Restoration of Water on the Border, requests that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and all the institutions that are in some way related to the border, make efforts to solve the situation.
“Sewage and toxic waste have crossed over from Mexico for years because federal agencies have not stepped in to address the problem. The people of Southern California have been forced to suffer as different federal agencies continue to pass the buck. This bill will end the confusion by putting EPA in charge of coordinating efforts and solving the problem, “Feinstein stated.
Senator Padilla added that” While federal agencies have ignored To a large extent this problem, the health and safety of our coastal communities continue to be threatened. That is why I am joining Senator Feinstein in introducing the Border Water Quality Protection and Restoration Act to direct EPA to take the initiative to finally address the issue of the Tijuana River pollution ”.
The San Diego congressional group reported that it is preparing a complementary initiative in the lower house to reinforce the work of senators.