SAN DIEGO, CA — The county Board of Supervisors Wednesday unanimously approved a $2.35 million grant and related contract that will allow the U.S. Navy to rehabilitate 20 acres within the Tijuana River Valley Regional Park.
Voting 4-0 on consent, supervisors allowed for the grant to pay for cleaning up three sites in the park.
The Naval Base Coronado Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program is providing the grant, according to information on the Wednesday board meeting agenda.
According to the Land Use and Environmental Group (LUEG), the county- owned sites “are managed by Parks & Recreation and currently contain dilapidated structures, underground utilities, foundations, debris and non-native plants.”
“This is part of our collaboration with Naval Base Coronado to manage natural resources in the Tijuana River Valley,” according to LUEG. “This increases environmental resiliency near the military base which serves as an extra protective buffer.”
The clean-up project is expected to begin this fall, and completed next summer, according to LUEG.
Although he voted yes, Supervisor Jim Desmond said he was concerned about potential risks, including gastrointestinal illness, bacteria levels and hazardous gases.
In recent years, the U.S.-Mexico border sewage pollution problem has closed beaches and caused serious health issues for some residents. Untreated wastewater from Mexico’s Tijuana River crosses the border into the United States and washes out to sea just south of Imperial Beach.
The bacterial buildup from raw sewage in the wastewater has necessitated the closure of South Bay beaches almost without interruption for three years.
Last month, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin visited with San Diego leaders and said the sewage issue needs to be resolved with “extreme urgency.”
“I’m not convinced it’s safe right now to have people working in the Tijuana River Valley,” he said, adding there are 5 million gallons of sewage coming through that river every day.
“We’re gonna send people in there to clean out dilapidated structures,” he said. “This is like your toilet’s overflowing in the house, and you decide it’s time to paint the bedroom.”
Desmond said he understands why the U.S. Navy needs to clean up the land but wants “to make sure we’ve got our priorities straight.”
He added he earlier considered voting against the proposal.
“Because Tijuana has not been able to get their house in order and fix their failure sewer infrastructure, we continue to have to spend millions on the San Diego side to cleaning them up,” Desmond said.
Vice Chair Terra Lawson-Remer said she was glad to have the military helping with the land rehabilitation project and hopes it leads to more support.
“We’re continuing to make investments to clean the Tijuana River Valley,” she added. “It’s not enough, but it’s something, and every little bit helps.”
