January 17, 2024
Mayor Richard Bailey and Councilmember John Duncan traveled to Washington, DC, on January 7, 2024, to advocate for additional federal funding to expand capacity at the IBWC wastewater treatment facility located in San Diego County. The added capacity, combined with additional measures, would address the untreated sewage and other pollution being discharged into the Tijuana River and ultimately into the Pacific Ocean. Mayor Bailey says, “This is the largest tangible environmental disaster in the country, but it can be solved.”
Bailey and Duncan are both members of Coronado’s Council Subcommittee on Cross-Border Water Pollution; Duncan is also a Board Member of the US International Boundary and Water Commission Citizens Advisory Forum. Mayor Bailey has made several trips to Washington, DC, to advocate on this issue and was joined by Councilmember Duncan on this latest trip. Councilmember Duncan is a passionate advocate on this issue. Upon taking office, Duncan successfully sought to have the City Council reinstate the Subcommittee, previously consisting of Mayor Bailey and former Councilmember Whitney Benzian, that had successfully advocated for over $300 million to be included in the 2020 USMCA agreement.
In 2020, the EPA identified a suite of projects that would reduce transboundary sewage flows by approximately 95%. The environmental review for those projects was completed in mid-2023, and a request for design-build contracts was recently released. The cost of the projects was estimated to be $600 million in 2020 but is expected to be higher now.
Councilmember Duncan, a Washington, DC, and California licensed attorney, says, “The timing of our trip to DC could not have been better because the spending bills that could potentially fund the next critical phase of this work are being debated right now. Although I spent 25 years litigating and negotiating major deals during my legal career, the work we did in DC is some of the most important work I have ever done. Not only is this an environmental issue closing the beaches for families in the South Bay, but the sewage contamination is currently causing health issues for our Navy SEALs and Border Patrol officers, and they deserve better.”
Over a three-day period, Bailey and Duncan logged twenty miles of walking between Congressional office buildings and the US Capitol Building. They met with the offices of Congressman Darrell Issa, Congressman Morgan Luttrell, Congressman Eli Crane, had meetings with the House Appropriations SFOPS Subcommittee (Majority and Minority), and had meetings with the office of Chairwoman of Appropriations Kay Granger, and with the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for the Majority.
Bailey and Duncan also had meetings with the office of the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the office of Senator Kyrsten Sinema, the offices of both Senators from California, Senator Laphonza Butler and Senator Alex Padilla, as well as the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
The two members of the Coronado City Council also met with Coronado’s representative, Congressman Scott Peters, as well as two former Navy SEALs, Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Congressman Ryan Zinke, who sits on the House Appropriations Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee. Crenshaw and Zinke trained in the waters off Cornado and are familiar with the sewage problem. Duncan said, “I have previously met with Congressman Peters and Congressman Crenshaw in Coronado, and both gentlemen are committed to helping secure the funding necessary to build the treatment plant at the border. They are an example of what bipartisanship looks like and should be applauded.”
Bailey gave an update on the work being done on the Mexico side of the border to address the sewage crisis. He said, “There are two main sources of pollution in Tijuana. Mexican officials recently broke ground to fix the wastewater treatment plant at San Antonio de los Buenos, which has been inoperable for many years. This will solve one of the sources. Now it is our turn to expand the treatment plant on our side of the border, and I am hopeful that the federal government will appropriate the remaining funds needed very soon.”
VOL. 114, NO. 3 - Jan. 17, 2024