| A
recent wire report in the San Diego Union-Tribune credits Bilbray
for securing $500,000 for border sewage cleanup projects near the Tijuana
River. But the report left out a few details...
The
actual diversion structures, pump stations and pipelines will cost approximately
10 times that amount, or about $5 million. $500,000 will simply fund yet
another study of a problem that border residents already understand all
too well.
A
study falls far short of stopping sewage flows. Rep. Bilbray, who authored
the funding amendment, would have more success cleaning up beaches along
the border if stopped blaming "a foreign government," and focussed on working
cooperatively with CESPT (Comision de Servicios Publicos de Tijuana), the
wastewater agency in Tijuana.
CESPT
has been working to repair blocked drains and prevent more pipeline overflows
from their side of the border. They are in the best position to stem these
renegade flows of wastewater before they reach the United States.
Moreover,
experience has shown that even small amounts of money applied to actually
working on infrastructure problems in Mexico go much farther than, say,
half a million dollars for a study in the US. The state of California recognizes
this, and is considering authorizing $300,000 per year to reimburse local
agencies who work cooperatively on "defensive measures" in Mexico, when
such work protects water and air quality in California.
For
example, in October 1998, the cities of San Diego and Imperial Beach sent
vactor trucks into Tijuana to clean out clogged sewage lines. Their efforts
prevented millions of gallons of sewage from flowing into the Tijuana River.
The proposed state bill would reimburse the cities for related expenses
of such cross-border efforts.
Mexico
and the United States share a common environment, and San Diego certainly
has its share of sewage spills. Rep. Bilbray would do well to acknowledge
Mexico's successes working with US cities to improve their system and protect
local beaches and river, and support more cost effective ways to work with
agencies in Mexico to solve these problems.
But
perhaps because it's an election year, Bilbray believes taking credit for
getting money for studies is more important than actually cleaning up the
sewage.
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