I finally have something to report from the people in charge of a broken sewage treatment plant along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Last week, I didn’t get much out of a 350-page report that was extremely redacted by the International Boundary and Water Commission, or IBWC (a binational federal agency with commissioners in both the U.S. and Mexico that deals with cross-border water issues). The report was supposed to tell us exactly what’s wrong with a wastewater plant on the U.S. side of the border which treats and prevents Tijuana sewage from spilling into San Diego and the ocean.
I knew the IBWC leader was communicating with Rep. Darrell Issa’s Office (a California Republican congressman who represents a large swath of the border) who asked a bunch of questions about how this treatment plant fell into such bad shape. So, I filed another Freedom of Information Act request for IBWC Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner’s response.
I got the records within a day.
Now to the good part – it’s very clear from Giner’s letter to Issa that she’s been trying to get her house in order since President Joe Biden appointed her in August of 2021.
I had some clue how messy it was inside.
Last summer, Giner told Democrat California Sen. Alex Padilla during a visit to the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant that, when she arrived, there “were spreadsheets all over the place” and no work order system.
In the letter to Issa’s Office, Giner goes into a lot more detail.
The IBWC isn’t the only entity running the plant. Veolia, an international utilities management company, has contracted with IBWC to operate and repair the plant since 1998, around when it opened. Since at least 2011, according to Giner’s letter, Veolia would tell the IBWC every year what needed fixing. Then it’s up to the IBWC to ask for the money, and Congress to pay for it. (The nation of Mexico also pays the IBWC to treat its waste, though apparently not enough to cover the true costs.)
Side note: Keep in mind, running repairs through Congress is not the normal way to operate a wastewater treatment plant. Usually, the people making the sewage pay for their sewage treatment through monthly utility bills. That’s the way it works for most civilizations on the planet. This situation, where one nation tries to treat the sewage of another nation, is far smore complicated.
Over the course of a decade, Giner wrote, the IBWC spent only $4 million on plant repairs, meaning lots of things Veolia said were broken weren’t fixed. As storms intensified and Tijuana grew, the plant took on more and more sewage with already failing systems.
Giner wrote that the IBWC is writing a new contract with Veolia. It requires the contractor to document when maintenance work is done – presumably that wasn’t happening before. (Veolia declined to comment for this story.) Giner hired another consultant in December to come up with a system that tracks the condition of each piece of the plant’s hardware. And she said she’s assigned IBWC staff to oversee Veolia’s contract.
In a statement Monday, Jonathan Wilcox, a spokesman for Rep. Issas office, said Giner’s response provided “good additional information.”
“But they did not include what Congressman Issa is ultimately seeking: A clear, comprehensive, and tangible plan to get the facility back on track and able to carry out its vital cleanup,” Wilcox wrote.
It’s not news that the South Bay plant is struggling to run. The U.S. Government Accountability Office noted in a 2020 report the IBWC put off purchasing $150,000 worth of new pumps and motors for other needs along the 1,255 miles of border it manages. I reported in 2022 plant operators couldn’t control how much sewage Tijuana sends into the plant.
Giner told Issa the plant needs $22 million-worth of urgent repairs and broke that down item by item.
There’s still one thing everyone is confused about: Congress gave San Diego $300 million in 2020 to help fix this problem. Where did that number come from now that we know the cost to curb the sewage crisis is probably about three times that?
Giner wrote that it’s “unclear” how Congress came up with that number. The IBWC didn’t ask for it. Neither did the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which Congress put in charge initially to manage how the money would be spent, she wrote.
We knew since at least 2021 that $300 million wouldn’t be enough to do the 10 projects EPA recommended. We knew just expanding the South Bay plant to treat more sewage would probably blow through that whole budget. Then, there was another $330 million worth of work EPA identified on both sides of the border.
Since Giner’s took her post and revealed the shape the South Bay plant truly was in, that tacked another $310 million to the price tag.
And that, folks, is how the initial $300 million pollution solution crept toward a $1 billion price tag.
In Other News
- The latest in warring consultant reports: San Diego Gas and Electric argues San Diego would be out $11 billion if the city breaks away and forms its own public grid. San Diego studied this and found ratepayers would actually save money by making the switch. (Voice of San Diego)
- Philip Salata at inewsource has been covering this wild story about a dispute over a community garden between the refugee gardeners and the community development group that claims management rights over the land.
- For you tugboat dads out there, San Diego can claim fame to hosting the nation’s first all-electric vessel-puller. (Union-Tribune)
- Our Border Report writer, Sandra Dibble, unpacked why Arizona and Baja California teamed up recently over semiconductor manufacturing. (Voice of San Diego)
- Sempra, the owner of San Diego Gas and Electric, plans to add more turbines to its Baja California wind farm that serves Silicon Valley. (Union-Tribune)
- Get it while it’s poppin’: It’s superbloom season in Anza-Borrego State Park as the hills experience a burst of color from the rainy winter. Look don’t pick. (NBC News)
- A mountain lion died in Oceanside after being hit by a vehicle. The public is pissed and thinks it’s the same one spotted around downtown captured on viral social media posts. Wildlife officials say there’s no proof. Regardless of whether it was the same lion, writes Paul Sisson, the situation illustrates the fact that when a wild animal ends up in an urban area, a clock starts ticking. (Union-Tribune)