San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer announced Tuesday she will immediately pursue a federal Superfund designation for the Tijuana River Valley, bypassing her colleagues after they voted to delay any formal decision.
In a statement, Lawson-Remer said she will team up with other elected officials to seek help from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, including Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre; Marcus Bush, National City Council member; and National City Mayor Ron Morrison.
Lawson-Remer said Jack Shu, chairman of the San Diego Air Pollution Control District, will also participate.
"We are submitting an immediate petition to the EPA requesting a Superfund designation," Lawson-Remer said in a statement. "I hope my colleagues will join us after their report comes back in 90 days."
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted 3-2 to have county leaders review study and report back to the board on options for cleaning up the South County region, including a possible Superfund designation, which lets the EPA clean up contaminated areas.
Noted Superfund projects include Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York.
Lawson-Remer, who issued a board letter asking for the Superfund designation Tuesday, voted no on the motion for further review, as did Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe.
Lawson-Remer said 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 designation)."
Over the past few years, concerns have grown about pollution in the Tijuana River Valley near the U.S.-Mexico border — including sewage spills, contaminated beaches and noxious odors. A broken wastewater treatment plant in Baja California is considered the main cause.
In a statement, Supervisors board chair Nora Vargas said the county "cannot afford to delay" coordinated efforts between the U.S. Congressional delegation and local cities in connection with fixing wastewater treatment facilities.
During the Tuesday meeting, Vargas said she wasn't opposed to EPA involvement, but she said the process could take decades before any meaningful clean-up begins.
She added that Superfund doesn't address the international pollution issue, which has resulted in cross-border cooperation.
"Let me be clear: We absolutely need federal action now," Vargas said. "We cannot make decisions about the Tijuana River Valley without fully engaging communities and organizations on the frontlines of the crisis."
Further, if the pollution source isn't solved, "we won't be able to change a thing," Vargas said.
Supervisor Jim Desmond said he appreciated more time for the county on how to move forward.
In a statement after the vote, Montgomery Steppe said making the Tijuana River Valley a Superfund site would simply give the county "another tool to combat the decades-long environmental injustice."
"I do not support the motion to delay the decision for another 90 days, but I look forward to exploring the additional options the county can take," Montgomery Steppe said.
"Countless constituents inside and outside my district have shared their experiences about the severe impact of the Tijuana River Valley pollution issue, but feel their concerns are overlooked and dismissed," she added. "I am deeply concerned about this. The people deserve better."
During a public comment period, Aguirre, Bush and Shu all pressed the county to ask for EPA assistance.
"We've heard enough testimony on this," Bush said. "I ask all of us to put politics aside."
Laura Wilkinson Sinton, a cofounder of Stop the Sewage and a candidate for Coronado City Council, asked supervisors to share residents' sense of urgency about the border pollution crisis.
"We are not pointing fingers," said Sinton, who also backed Lawson- Remer's proposal. "We are waiting for help."
