Fed’s Tijuana River Clean-Up Experiment Suffers Storm Damage

A storm wiped out millions of dollars’ worth of experimental Tijuana River treatment technology paid for by a cash-strapped federal agency just months after setting it up.  

Others working to manage trash on a separate project where the river crosses from Mexico into the United States said they warned the tech company, Greenwater Services, of the poor location of their equipment next to the flood-prone river. But last week’s intense rainstorm swept away their equipment trailers and overturned at least one diesel generator, spilling an estimated 1,000 gallons of fuel into the river. 

The fiasco may have also damaged another multi-million project paid for by the state to prevent trash from crossing into the United States.  

The International Boundary and Water Commission or IBWC – a binational agency that handles water and wastewater issues at the U.S.-Mexico border –  granted Greenwater Services an up to $2.5 million single-source contract back in August, first reported by inewsource. The company was supposed to be testing so-called “nanobbuble” treatment of the polluted Tijuana River, which involves firing aerosolized ozone into water to purify it. Activists concerned about the Tijuana River pollution questioned whether testing such technology — typically used on wastewater treatment plants — was safe to do on a river.

A single source contract means Greewater Services was awarded a non-competitive bid, typically reserved for special circumstances when only one company has the capabilities to conduct a service. But the IBWC hasn’t traditionally spent money to perform science experiments. In fact, the agency hasn’t had money to spend on much of anything. Voice of San Diego reported a few years ago that the IBWC has a backlog of at least $1 billion in infrastructure that needs to be fixed or built – including leaking dams and San Diego’s wastewater treatment plant which still needs significant upgrades – and only a $50 million budget to do so.  

It’s unclear whether the IBWC will spend more money on the project should the equipment need repairs or replacement. 

Photos from an Oct. 20 presentation to a group that manages trash contamination on the river shows the perimeter of the trash boom (a kind of large, floating and reinforced net) straddling the river’s flow at the border with Greenwater Services’ flooded equipment inside.  

“We advised (Greenwater Services) several times that wasn’t the right place for their equipment,” said Oscar Romo, executive director of Alter Terra, a nonprofit that designed and installed the trash booms. “But they didn’t take it away and now they paid the consequences.”  

Romo said his team is still assessing how much damage Greenwater Services’ equipment may have caused the trash boom, another multi-million project funded by the State Water Resources Control Board. 

Minutes from that Oct. 20 meeting indicate Romo’s group struggled to report the diesel spill from Greenwater Services’ overturned generators. Initially they reported the spill to the county, who then told the group to report it to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the IBWC. Ailene Voisin, a spokesperson for the Regional Water Quality Control Board, said that neither the IBWC nor the company have informed their staff officially of the spill, which it’s supposed to do.  

IBWC officials directed a reporter to file a Freedom of Information Act request in response to questions. The agency’s public information officers also didn’t respond to questions as they are on furlough due to the federal government shutdown, fallout from Congressional gridlock over the budget.  

Chas Antinone, president of Greenwater Services, also declined to comment on Wednesday and directed a reporter’s questions to the IBWC.