The Millennium Edition of  Congressman Brian "Waffleman" Bilbray's  Unofficial, Unauthorized Website Electronically upsetting the incumbent since 1995
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The Senate Committee agreed this was an important project and supported the request, which would allow the EPA to move forward with building the treatment ponds they selected in December 1999 (see report below). The EPA already has the money (approximately $50 million) in their Border Environmental Infrastructure Fund account. However, the House Appropriations Committee has yet to reach a decision to allow this expenditure to go forward.

Support from Congressman Bilbray would certainly help this project move ahead-- so why isn't he willing to make a request to assist the EPA? Perhaps in part it's because a promoter of a competing private project, called "Bajagua," has donated so generously to his campaign, and continues to lobby the Congressman aggressively. In April 1999, Enrique Landa donated $1000 to "Re-Elect Brian Bilbray for Congress."  In the Federal Elections Commission report, Landa describes himself as a "self-employed investor."

Over three years ago (May 28 1997) Rep. Bilbray published a commentary in the San Diego Union-Tribune. In an essay titled "The continuing border-pollution fight," he wrote:

"To start, we need to move forward in order to make the treatment plant comply with federal law. The Clean Water Act requires a secondary level of treatment for the sewage treated there, and a plan has been crafted to accomplish this."

This plan requires funding, so why the delay in supporting the EPA's request to raise the spending cap? Please contact the Congressman directly and ask him. His email address is: Brian.Bilbray@mail.house.gov

In December, Congressman Bilbray issued a statement that he accepted the decision of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission to select ponds as the secondary level treatment method at the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant.  The two agencies announced the signing of the Record of Decision, or ROD, in separate news announcements.

In his prepared statement, the Congressman supported moving ahead with constructing the ponding facilities in the United States. He also noted that "Any additional treatment facilities beyond these ponds should be constructed in Mexico."

The State Commission for Public Services of Tijuana (Comision Estatal de Servicios Publicos de Tijuana, or CESPT), the agency responsible for treating wastewater in Tijuana, has already begun planning several reclamation facilities with a combined capacity of about 12 million gallons/day. They have negotiated a low-interest loan from the Japanese Overseas Economic Development Fund to assist with the construction of these treatment plants.

Unfortunately, for 7 months the Congressman blocked the signing of the ROD, and withheld authorization of $50 million in EPA funding for construction of secondary treatment facilities. During that time MILLIONS of gallons of toxic sewage were being discharged into the ocean just a few miles from his hometown of Imperial Beach. Read what the Imperial Beach Mayor had to say.

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