"California Town Threatens Suit Over Mexican Sewage"

"Discharges of sewage, trash, and toxic sludge from Mexico have one California border city threatening to sue a binational agency charged with managing water pollution along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The International Boundary and Water Commission has made “zero” effort to address water pollution from daily unchecked discharges of stormwater, sewage, and trash flowing into the U.S. from Mexico, Serge Dedina, mayor of Imperial Beach, Calif., told Bloomberg BNA Aug. 2.

Imperial Beach is “fed up” with sewage spills and toxic sludge that trucks dump illegally on the Mexican side of a border fence, Dedina said.

The city will inform the commission of a planned suit alleging lack of oversight of the Clean Water Act discharge permit for the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant in San Diego, which is unable to handle the quantity and frequency of sewage flows, Dedina said. The city wants the commission to authorize expansion of the plant’s treatment capacity and to repair stormwater collection devices along the border fence, according to Dedina."

Amena H. Saiyid reports for Bloomberg BNA's Daily Environment Report August 2, 2017.