Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer is recruiting San Diego County residents who have been impacted by the Tijuana River crisis to sign on to her petition to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to request testing to determine if Superfund designation is warranted for the Tijuana River Valley. 

Since last Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting when a majority of the Supervisors decided to delay the request, the Vice Chair of the Board of Supervisors has been mobilizing support for the petition. Residents who live across the region are encouraged to sign the petition and share their story about how they have been impacted, which will then be submitted to the EPA along with the formal request on September 24. To join the petition residents can visit the website:  www.SupervisorTerraLawsonRemer.com. 

“The Tijuana River sewage crisis affects all of our coastal neighborhoods,” said Supervisor Lawson-Remer, who represents coastal communities from Coronado to Carlsbad. “We need to get to the bottom of what’s causing the stinky air and sickness among some residents; and seeking a Superfund designation would either give us answers not currently available to us. It’s my hope the results would come back negative, but if they don’t then we have a path to seek a solution the residents living up and down our coast deserve. 

“Protecting our beaches, coastlines and public health is of great importance, and a Superfund is another tool at our disposal,” Supervisor Lawson-Remer concluded.”    

In addition to residents, Supervisor Lawson-Remer has brought together a respected group of local elected leaders to co-author the request. Many of these leaders have been sounding the alarm on the river crisis and taking action; they include  Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, National City City Councilmember Marcus Bush and Mayor Ron Morrison, and the Chair of the Air Pollution Control District Jack Shu.  

Superfund is a 1980 law that the EPA uses to clean up hazardous waste sites in the United States. Superfund designation provides funding to clean-up pollution, hold responsible parties accountable, while centering communities in the process. Superfund is designed to address toxic waste and the Tijuana River Valley has endured 80 years of wastewater that includes many known toxic substances, making it a strong candidate for Superfund designation.

To learn more about the EPA petition being pursued by Supervisor Lawson-Remer, click here.

Other Superfund sites around the country have many similarities to the Tijuana River Valley: toxic waste characteristics, hazardous substances and nearby neighborhoods and sensitive environments. Similar examples (attached with pictures and details of the site) include: 

1. Gowanus Canal New York City (2010 Superfund Designation)

   1. This canal received just 1/10 of the amount of raw sewage that flows through the Tijuana River. It’s also located in an area that is heavily populated by more than 100,000 residents. 

2. Upper Columbia River Washington/Canada (2024 Superfund Designation)

   1. Like the Tijuana River this site has cross border pollution, where waste from a smelter in Canada flowed down stream and across the border to contaminate communities. 

3. Lower Duwamish Waterway Seattle (2021 Superfund Designation)

   1. Like The Tijuana River this is where saltwater and freshwater mix; and there are sensitive environments and habitats  

On October 8, a majority of the Board of Supervisors decided to delay making the request, and in response Supervisor Lawson-Remer then said: “I had hoped my colleagues would join me in acting with urgency on this matter today, but they preferred to consider my Superfund proposal in 90 days with additional analysis.  In the meanwhile, I am working with leaders from across the San Diego region who have already expressed to me their support for pursuing Superfund designation, and we are submitting an immediate petition to the EPA requesting a Superfund designation. I hope my colleagues will join us after their report comes back in 90 days.”   

Background: Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer’s Involvement in Helping to Fix the Tijuana Sewage Crisis

Supervisor Lawson-Remer has been advocating for the state and federal government to step up with more funding and support to resolve the Tijuana Sewage Emergency Environmental Crisis.

In June 2023, Supervisor Lawson-Remer, working with Chairwoman Nora Vargas got more than 2,500 county residents to sign a petition calling for federal action from President Joe Biden. Later that month at the urging of Supervisor Lawson-Remer and the Chairwoman, the Board of Supervisors declared a state of emergency in response to the ongoing transboundary sewage and pollution crisis. The Board also called on Governor Gavin Newsom and President Biden to issue similar declarations that would expedite access to federal resources and draw national attention to the crisis.

Supervisor Lawson-Remer worked with and lobbied the San Diego congressional delegation to take action, and went to Washington to lobby others.  So far, the U.S. The Federal Government has made more than $456 million available to fix the international wastewater treatment plant on the U.S. side of the border. After significant lobbying, the Mexican government agreed to fix the main sewage plant  on their side of the border, and they have an aggressive deadline.  These have been major steps in the right direction for a problem that has been decades long, but Supervisor Lawson-Remer continues to fight for more investments to permanently resolve the issue.

In June 2024, Supervisor Lawson-Remer secured support from the Board of Supervisors for a policy she introduced to expand data collection and develop stronger decontamination protocols for sewage-contaminated floodwaters. The Policy will:

• Launching a Community Health Survey examining health impacts beyond direct water exposure

• Development of a Tijuana River Public Health Risk Dashboard

• Development of a local decontamination protocols for sewage contaminated floodwaters

• Collaboration with the Task Force to develop a list of data sources that can support tracking sewage-associated non-reportable diseases.

• Requesting zip-code level data from California Breathing Program.

• Enhanced communication with other agencies to increase surveillance and testing under their purview, including San Diego Regional Water Control Board, Air Pollution Control District, CDPH, and CDC.

• Pursuing additional funding and support to assess economic and public health impacts of the sewage crisis.

On September 18, 2024 Supervisor Lawson-Remer convened a meeting with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), San Diego County Air Pollution Control District (SDAPCD), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), County of San Diego Public Health Services (PHS), the Department of Environmental Quality (DEHQ), and researchers from San Diego State University and the University of California San Diego to discuss how to best collaborate and share information amongst the different groups and agencies working to address the odors and health effects of sewage from the Tijuana River Valley.

On September 26, Supervisor Lawson-Remer requested North County coastal communities support providing air purifiers to assist southern coastal communities manage the immediate needs to eliminate the smells and poor air quality caused by the river crisis. On October 8, she introduced a policy to pursue making the Tijuana River Valley a Superfund site.