EPA Visits Tijuana River
- Media
- Apr 24
- 3 min read
South County’s seemingly endless sewage crisis in the Tijuana River got some high-level federal attention on Tuesday.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin spent the day touring the river and conferring with local leaders, following a high-level meeting with Mexican officials the previous evening during which Mexico’s environment secretary assured Zeldin that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum “is fully committed to resolve this issue” once and for all.
Flanked by local elected officials from both political parties at a Tuesday morning press conference in San Diego, Zeldin said Americans are “out of patience” with the sewage crisis.
He emphasized the Trump Administration views Mexico as the primary source of the problem.
Mexican officials “can’t view this as a U.S. problem just because it reaches U.S. soil,” Zeldin said of the sewage and garbage that routinely flow from Tijuana into the Tijuana River and ocean waters off the coast of Mexico and southern San Diego County. “They need to commit” to fixing the problem.
It was a rare moment of bipartisan comity on a contentious issue. Democratic members of Congress at the press conference, including Reps. Mike Levin and Juan Vargas, praised Zeldin, and even President Donald Trump himself, for focusing attention on the sewage issue and promising swift action.
“We have a lot of hope at the moment,” Vargas said.
One notable absence from the lineup of local officials at the press conference was Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, who has made the sewage crisis a signature issue during her tenure as an Imperial Beach leader. Aguirre joined Zeldin on a tour of the river earlier in the day but was not invited to the press conference.
Aguirre, a Democrat, is in the midst of a close-fought race to occupy a vacant seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Her opponent in that race, Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, a Republican, was invited to the press conference and stood beside Zeldin as he delivered his remarks.
McCann and Aguirre have cooperated previously to draw federal attention and funding to the crisis, traveling together to Washington D.C. last year as part of a delegation of local leaders lobbying federal officials.
McCann, who participated in a roundtable discussion Tuesday with Zeldin and local leaders, praised Zeldin for bringing attention to the sewage issue and for vowing to hold Mexico accountable for fixing the problem.
McCann said accountability south of the border would be one of his top priorities if elected Supervisor.
“One hundred million gallons of raw sewage are flowing from Mexico to the U.S.” McCann said. “You can’t have your neighbor constantly drop trash in your front yard. Today we worked as a bipartisan group of officials to find solutions.”
Zeldin said EPA officials are finalizing a comprehensive list of infrastructure fixes and other steps necessary to resolve the sewage crisis. He said the list will then be presented to Mexican officials.
“Mexico either agrees [with the list] or not. And then we know whether Mexico will be a partner,” Zeldin said. “This is a situation that must be eliminated.”
Jim Hinch | April 22, 2025 | Voice of San Diego
EDITOR'S NOTE: Looks like Supervisor Jim Desmond's trip to Washington, DC and talks with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin finally got the ball rolling. We could use four more Supervisors like Jim Desmond working for the needs of their constituents instead of their own agendas.
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