San Diego County and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will survey hundreds of South Bay households to better understand the impact of ongoing cross-border sewage spills.
The Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response will take place Oct. 17-19. With the help of the county, the CDC has identified 30 blocks at random in the Tijuana River Valley. Seven homes from each will be contacted for an in-person interview.
Seema Shah, the interim deputy public health officer for the county, said the in-person conversations will help officials better understand what residents are going through. Traditional data-collection techniques have limitations, she said.
"Not every type of data is going to be able to be seen," Shah said Thursday.
In addition to physical health effects, officials want to hear how people's mental health and household finances are affected by the pollution crisis.
"It's really a very comprehensive interview," Shah said. "That's why we really hope that when people are asked to be interviewed (they) participate in this interview, because this is how we make change, this is how we impact and how we are able to communicate back to the community that we are indeed listening."
On Thursday county officials and volunteers began walking neighborhoods in the Nestor community in south San Diego, hanging door tags informing residents of the coming survey.
Over the next two weeks the county hopes to contact thousands of households in the valley so people understand why government officials might come knocking on their doors.
"This is no small feat to be able to canvass 6,000 homes and then get ready for the CDC to arrive," Shah said. "We are pushing information out on social media. We have door hangers (with) QR codes, we have fliers."
More information about the survey is on the county's website.
