Nine cumulative months have been slashed from planned projects related to the ongoing Tijuana sewage crisis, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports.
Practically, this means that work on the Tijuana River Gates will be completed six months ahead of schedule, and rehabilitation of Pump Station 1 (PB-1) will be completed three months early.
The gates project will replace more than 23,000 feet of deteriorating concrete wastewater pipes that are currently leaking untreated sewage directly into the Alamar and Tijuana Rivers. The PB-1 project will provide critical backup pumping capacity and redundancy to prevent future sewage spills into the Tijuana River when primary pumps fail.
The two projects’ expedited timelines arose after a 100-day review of infrastructure projects that the US conducted after executing a memorandum of understanding with Mexico earlier this year to continue to address infrastructure needs that contribute to the millions of gallons of untreated wastewater from Tijuana that are dumped into the Pacific Ocean each day.
This crumbling infrastructure has prompted widespread beach closures, public health concerns, and a pungent smell wafting around San Diego’s South Bay.
The US and Mexico both agreed in the MOU to assess their current projects for potential ways to expedite them. Between the US and Mexico, the EPA estimates that a combined 12 years of construction time will be saved.
“The Trump Administration is doing everything in its power to urgently and permanently deliver the 100 percent solution to the Tijuana River Sewage Crisis that the residents of Southern California have demanded for decades,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in a statement. “Reducing timelines for existing infrastructure projects is a sign of great progress and demonstrates how both the United States and Mexico are faithfully upholding their agreed-upon responsibilities from July’s MOU.”
This is one of several steps in the MOU that governments on both side of the border are working to implement.
The next steps, the EPA reports, are to release a joint public update and to sign a new treaty minute by the end of the year, which will identify additional projects needed to solve the problem permanently.
Historically speaking , this has been done before. Yet even years after raw. Sewage washed up on Coronado beaches….nope that wasn’t a baby Ruth floating next to my board .