Union-Tribune Editorial

Sludge process reconsidered as sewage solution
Environmentalists warn of litigation

November 25, 2001
By Leslie Wolf Branscomb

There's a new plan for secondary sewage treatment at the border, but it's going to sound awfully familiar to anyone who's been watching the issue for long: activated sludge.

The decision by U.S. International Boundary and Water Commissioner Carlos M. Ramirez to seek funding for an activated sludge treatment plant brings the border sewage controversy to where it was seven years ago, when the same method of treatment was chosen, then abandoned because of environmentalists' lawsuits.

Now a fresh round of litigation appears all but certain. What's more, the congressman who represents the Tijuana River Valley where the facility would be built is calling for an investigation into Ramirez's actions.

"It's a huge, huge, huge problem for us, for all the same reasons that it was the first time around," said Marco Gonzalez, president of the San Diego chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

Ramirez said Wednesday that he made the decision out of frustration because the proposal to build the Bajagua project -- a private secondary treatment plant in Tijuana -- is not moving forward.

"I think that people want something done to protect the environment and the waters and beaches," said Ramirez, in an interview from his office in El Paso, Texas. "So what do we do? Do we hope and just wait until something happens with Bajagua?"

"I know it's an emotional issue in that area, but I'm trying to keep the emotions out of it and focus on what is environmentally, technically and financially feasible," he said.

For decades, raw sewage from Mexico has flowed northward into the Tijuana River and onto the shores of Imperial Beach.

The International Wastewater Treatment Plant was built in the Tijuana River Valley in 1997 to address the problem. But it only treats sewage to the advanced primary level, and the law calls for cleaner secondary treatment.

The plans included construction of secondary treatment facilities, and in 1994, activated sludge was chosen, which uses micro-organisms to break down organic matter in wastewater. The Surfrider Foundation and Sierra Club sued, claiming the process produced a highly concentrated toxic sludge.

The litigation forced the government to reconsider, and in 1999 a different method was selected: open-air treatment ponds that allow sewage to settle naturally.

Filner intervened

But that plan was opposed by Tijuana Valley residents who feared potential odor problems. They enlisted the aid of Rep. Bob Filner, who effectively blocked funding for construction of the ponds.

Then Filner and former Rep. Brian Bilbray backed legislation to allow the Bajagua plant to be built in Tijuana, as an alternative, pending re-negotiation of an existing wastewater treaty between the United States and Mexico.

On Oct. 30 Ramirez announced his agency could not commence negotiations because there was no money.

His statement angered Filner, who said this week that he will ask for a January hearing on the matter by the water resources subcommittee of the transportation and infrastructure committee.

"I think he's in contempt of Congress, and I want him to say in front of Congress that a law that was passed unanimously has no force," Filner said.

Filner called the claim that there is no money for negotiations "a red herring" and questioned why Ramirez would ask for a $93 million appropriation to build the activated sludge plant instead. "He doesn't have the money for that either," Filner noted.

But Ramirez said he has asked repeatedly for funding to negotiate the treaty that would allow Bajagua to be built, to no avail. Ramirez also said the State Department and the Office of Management and Budget have not given the IBWC authorization to negotiate.

"There's been a lot of discussion as to the validity of the proposed Bajagua project," Ramirez said. "Bajagua is an option, but it's an option that appears to be going nowhere."

Ramirez said he and his staff had been looking over their options for a long time and reached the decision to return to activated sludge about four weeks ago.

"Activated sludge is a proven technology and it will meet and exceed the (environmental) standards of the federal and state governments," he said.

"If we build it, we will make sure that the treated effluent will meet all standards," Ramirez said. "If they build it in Mexico, we would have to have people there monitoring it all the time. If it is not being done properly, how do we enforce it in Mexico?"

Jim Simmons of Bajagua said his project would have to treat sewage to U.S. standards because it will use the same ocean outfall, offshore from Imperial Beach, that is currently used by the International Wastewater Treatment Plant.

"It's just as if we are located in the United States, because our discharge point is in the United States," he said. "We'll never be at a point where we'll have water coming from our plant that is less than secondary."

"I don't think he thought it through," Simmons said of Ramirez's comments. "I want to sit down and work this out, and we can," Simmons said. "Why he's being so resistant, I don't know."

Lawsuit deal in doubt

Surfrider president Gonzalez said the decision to go back to activated sludge has thrown the settlement of Surfrider's pending lawsuit against the IBWC into doubt.

The lawsuit challenged the IBWC for discharging wastewater that was not treated to the secondary standard. A settlement that would require extensive water monitoring was nearly completed but had been postponed because the U.S. Department of Justice, representing the IBWC, had its mail delivery halted due to anthrax contamination. Now the suit may not be settled, he said.

"I think the decision to go back to activated sludge is a political one, done with the intention of going back to court," Gonzalez said.