Sen. Booker visits border, calls Tijuana River pollution ‘environmental justice crisis’
Sen Cory Booker D-N J during his visit to the limit Thursday He s flanked by Mayor Paloma Aguirre left and Rep Juan Vargas and Rep Scott Peters right Photo courtesy of Paloma Aguirre Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre once served as an environmental fellow in Sen Cory Booker s Washington office She leveraged that contact Thursday as the New Jersey Democrat and former presidential candidate visited her city to see the Tijuana River sewage contamination predicament up close and demand more federal action to address the issue Booker called the situation an environmental justice problem and mentioned he will take what I saw here back to Washington to help make sure this region s fight for clean air and water is heard and answered No one should be forced to breathe toxic air and swim in sewage What I saw and smelled in current times in South San Diego County is unconscionable it would never be tolerated in Malibu or Mar-a-Lago and it shouldn t be tolerated here he mentioned in the latter occurrence referring to President Donald Trump s lavish Florida resort Aguirre invited the senator to visit the demarcation on his already scheduled California trip which included a speaking engagement Thursday at the San Diego Central Library Rep Juan Vargas D-San Diego joined them The defilement in the Tijuana River isn t just harming our milieu it s threatening our neighbors robustness shutting down businesses and closing beaches Vargas noted This isn t a partisan issue it s a matter of basic human rights and public safety We will continue to fight for real solutions and lasting protections The -mile Tijuana River flows from Baja California and over the boundary into the South Bay carrying millions of gallons of wastewater including sewage industrial waste and runoff that end up in the Pacific Ocean Booker s visit comes the day after a UC San Diego record unveiled dangerous chemical compounds are present not only in the water of the Tijuana River and off the coast of Imperial Beach but are also aerosolized by ocean spray and make it into the air It also follows a pledge by the United States International Boundary and Water Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency to fast track a project to increase the South Bay International Wastewater Healing Plant s quota to handle the sewage from to million gallons per day I fought tooth and nail to get this funding through Congress and fix a broken plant that was making people sick and closing our beaches Aguirre declared Our relentless fight is showing results but we need a resolution because South County families shouldn t have to live with this toxic sewage nightmare any longer Aguirre is a candidate to fill the South Bay s vacant seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors She will face Chula Vista Mayor John McCann in a July runoff City News Utility contributed to this record
