Port of San Diego Adopts Resolution Urging Federal Action on Tijuana River Valley Pollution

SAN DIEGO―The Port of San Diego has adopted a joint resolution recommending actions for the federal government to take to eliminate transboundary flows in the Tijuana River Valley. The Port is the state-designated trustee of public resources in and around Imperial Beach, which includes the ocean waters just off the Imperial Beach Pier, an area that is frequently impacted by toxic, sewage polluted water.

According to the Port of San Diego, the resolution solidifies the most urgent needs that regional leaders request from the federal level to address the underlying causes of the sewage, sediment and trash that have contaminated San Diego land and waterways for decades. It has also recently been adopted by the State Lands Commission, San Diego County, San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, the cities of Chula Vista and Imperial Beach and Surfrider San Diego.

Asks include: allocating funding to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to carry out capital projects already identified; restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Tijuana River Valley; and authorizing and directing the U.S. EPA and the International Boundary and Water Commission to cooperate and expeditiously execute projects as appropriate.

Regional stakeholders have met frequently with the U.S. EPA since June when the agency released their “Tijuana River Valley Project Goals,” a list of capital projects identified to end the public health, environmental, and safety issues caused by the pollution in the Tijuana River Valley. They’ve also advocated in unison in Washington D.C. during the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce’s annual delegation visit to the capital.