Nine Years Ago—Former Imperial Beach Mayor Spoke Out on a Tijuana River Sewage Spill

Media
Apr 17
2 min read

Then IB Mayor Brian Bilbray in June 1980 at the mouth of the Tijuana River. He and the entire city council took part in Operation Beaver, an effort to dam the mouth of the Tijuana River and block the sewage from entering the ocean using skip loaders. | Photo credit: San Diego Historical Society | Click on image to enlarge

In 1980, Imperial Beach native Brian Bilbray was the town’s mayor and was fighting a pollution battle of his own

For Imperial Beach native Brian Bilbray, last month’s more than 143 million gallon sewage spill is nothing new.

“My granddaughter is a third generation sewage kid.”—Brian Bilbray

In 1980, Bilbray was the town’s mayor and was fighting a pollution battle of his own in the same region as last month's massive spill: the Tijuana River.

“We went down with skiploaders and announced to them that we're going to dam up the Tijuana River and back the sewage up. Create an incident by saying we're not going to allow the sewage on our beaches.”—Brian Bilbray

He said the stunt got the attention of government agencies that initially said the problem was not theirs. He credits the awareness raised through the media for that.

Last month, millions of gallons of raw sewage spilled in Tijuana and leaked into the Imperial Beach region, making the river and parts of the coast unsafe.

He said those handling the sewage spill now can draw a lesson from the same spirit of yesteryear.

“None of these agencies want to address the issue because it's coming across the border and they don't want to look like a bad guy.” —Brian Bilbray

His proposal? Force another “incident.”

“I'd propose that for every day IB is closed with pollution signs, the port of entry should be closed. Let's see how quick people react to that," he said.

Since the news of the recent spill, the International Boundaries Water Commission has agreed to carry out a bi-national investigation into the more than 143 million gallons of raw sewage spilled in Tijuana.