SAN DIEGO—Select South Bay residents began receiving visits from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Thursday as the federal agency is partnering with the county in a health assessment to determine the impact of the Tijuana River Valley sewage pollution crisis.
The county and CDC are working together on a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response or CASPER. A total of 210 households were selected from a larger 30-block section of homes near the border to participate in the survey.
“This assessment is a vital tool in addressing the public health crisis caused by sewage pollution in the Tijuana River Valley. By sharing your experiences, you are helping us gather the information we need to secure more resources and ensure the safety and well-being of our families,” San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas said. “I strongly encourage all residents to participate and make their voices heard.”
Teams will arrive in small groups and will carry identification to reassure residents of their official role in this effort. They will be wearing reflective vests, and are bilingual in English and Spanish. Interviews will be anonymous and take around 15 minutes.
Visits will run through Saturday between 2 to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday.
“It is important to hear directly from people who live near the Tijuana River Valley,” said Dr. Ankita Kadakia, the county’s interim public health officer. “If you get a knock on your door in the next couple of days from a CASPER interview team, please speak with interviewers and provide your honest answers.”
The responses will be used to guide decisions moving forward with the river valley and the people who live near it.
“The CDC has supported our partners in using the CASPER method for decades to quickly gather household-based information about community health concerns,” said Dr. Aaron Bernstein, director of the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. “These interviews will provide firsthand insights into how the sewage contamination is impacting the daily lives of residents, helping to inform solutions.”
The San Diego City Council recently approved a resolution asking for a national emergency regarding the sewage outflow at the border. The council had approved 31 years of consecutive extensions of a local state of emergency on the situation.
The largely symbolic item officially implores the federal government to make the local crisis a recognized national one, as well as asking for total funding of the Environmental Protection Agency’s infrastructure solution to the pollution.
In early September, high levels of noxious gases such as hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen cyanide were measured by scientific teams in the river valley and noticed by residents due to the rotten egg smell even miles from the border. Ultimately, crews from San Diego County determined there was no immediate health risk, but many residents believed the crisis had reached a turning point.
“We’re left feeling like the federal government has forgotten about us,” San Diego City Councilwoman Vivian Moreno said.
The San Diego City Council first declared a state of emergency because of the pollution—ranging from raw sewage to industrial runoff—in 1993. Imperial Beach put out a similar declaration in 2017, followed by the county in 2023.
Since October 2018, the United States section of the International Boundary and Water Commission has catalogued more than 200 billion gallons of toxic waste coming into the United States through the Tijuana River Valley. According to a city document on Tuesday’s resolution, the commission has spent just $4 million of $40 million allocated for infrastructure maintenance at the broken South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The city even sued the USIBWC to make the commission comply with the Clean Water Act. A total of $300 million was appropriated through the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement for the wastewater plant. In August, the USIBWC announced it will use the more than $400 million in federal funding secured by San Diego’s Congressional delegation to repair and expand the plant.
