500 Residents Ask the EPA to Declare Polluted Tijuana River Valley a Superfund Site
Article Written By: Megan Kitt - The Coronado Times
Terra Lawson-Remer is on a mission to investigate the Tijuana River Valley as a potential Superfund site.
“For eight decades, we know that this river valley has been contaminated with sewage, toxic chemicals, industrial waste, heavy metals, banned pesticides, and more,” she said at an Oct. 8 meeting of the San Diego Board of County Supervisors. “So even after we fix this sewage discharge problem, and even if the air is cleaner to breathe, there could very well be waste buried in the sediment that could bubble up and harm our communities.
Lawson-Remer said investigating this is an important, yet missing, piece to addressing the sewage crisis. It should be done concurrently with the more immediate-focused work that is underway to repair the failing infrastructure that causes it and to distribute air filters to those living in San Diego’s South Bay, she said.
Lawson-Remer first asked the San Diego Board of Supervisors to request that the Environmental Protection Agency investigate the Tijuana River Valley as a potential Superfund site. In a 3-2 vote, the board decided to delay a decision by 90 days so its members could further analyze the notion.
In the meantime, Lawson-Remer and other county leaders brought that mission to Coronado Beach on Oct. 24, where 500 residents signed a petition asking for superfund designation and submitting stories of how the crisis has impacted them.
She was joined by Laura Wilkinson-Sinton, a candidate for Coronado City Council and founder of Stop the Sewage, who spoke at the event. Other Coronado political figures in attendance were Christine Mott and Alexia Palacios Peters.
A Superfund site is a contaminated area designated and remediated by the EPA. The program was established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, but is colloquially known as “Superfund.”
The law allows the EPA to clean up contaminated sites. Parties responsible for the contamination are financially liable, and must either clean the sites themselves or reimburse the government for doing so. The goal is to return contaminated sites to productive use.