Sewer project to get remedial help                  

By Leslie Wolf Branscomb
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 13, 2004

Backers of a proposed project to build a sewage treatment plant at the Mexican border are hoping that a bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives will open the door to a speedy resolution.

The bill, passed unanimously Thursday, extends the allowable amount of time for a plant to be built and removes a limit on the amount of money authorized for the project.

“Every day, millions of gallons of raw sewage originating from Tijuana, Mexico, flow down the Tijuana River where it is deposited onto the San Diego beaches.

‘This is not only a public health crisis for the families living in the San Diego region, but the direct economic impacts of this problem cannot be ignored.”

Hunter said an existing wastewater treatment plant on the U.S. side of the border in the Tijuana River Valley “has failed to meet our commitment to the taxpayers by providing an effective solution to this problem in a cost efficient manner.”

Hunter supports a proposal to build a plant in Tijuana to capture and treat the sewage before it crosses the border.

Congress passed the Tijuana River Valley Estuary and Beach Sewage Cleanup Act in 2000, and it was signed by President Bill Clinton. It urged construction of the Tijuana plant in partnership with the United States. The original legislation set a five-year time frame for the construction of a plant and capped funding at $156 million,

However, the project is not under way, mainly because negotiations with Mexico to amend a treaty with the United States had to be completed first, and it took years. An agreement was reached in February, allowing the project to proceed.

Time was running out, so Hunter introduced the “re-authorization act.”

“This legislation will make necessary technical corrections to the base law to address changing circumstances,” Hunter said.

The new bill asks that the original legislation be implemented “as soon as possible” using “such sums as may be necessary.”

A private firm, Bajagua, is not named in the legislation, but the company hopes to get the contract.

“You can’t write them in,” said Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, who has been one of Bajagua's staunchest backers. “But it’s designed to make sure they’re eligible.”

“It was a big step,” said David Schlesinger, Bajagua’s director of operations. “We are hoping that after this is done, the IBWC will sit down with us and begin negotiations.”

The IBWC, or International Boundary and Water Commission, must award the contract. Bajagua would like to have a preliminary agreement before Dec. 6, the date the IBWC is scheduled for trial in federal court.

The IBWC was sued by the state for violating the Clean Water Act because sewage that is not treated to the required level continues to make its way into the ocean. The treatment plant in Mexico is meant to alleviate that problem.

The legislation is expected to pass the U.S. Senate soon and would have to be signed by the president to be enacted.

Leslie Branscomb:
(619) 498-6630; Leslie.branscomh@uniontrib.com --