The report Tuesday that the U.S. government could soon provide up to $300 million to address the sickening Tijuana River sewage spills that have so regularly fouled San Diego County beaches with raw sewage and other contaminants for years is the best news on this front … ever. Or could turn out to be.
The provision in the new United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement isn’t a sure thing because the pact may stall in Congress, and the language directing the funding to the Border Water Infrastructure Program is vague enough that it’s possible officials in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona could seek funds. But in separate phone interviews with an editorial writer, Reps. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, and Scott Peters, D-San Diego, were confident that progress was finally likely to address what Peters called one of the “worst environmental catastrophes in the Western Hemisphere.”
They credited San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Dianne Feinstein for their lobbying and cited fellow San Diego House Democrats Susan Davis and Juan Vargas, who along with Levin and Peters introduced bills in July focusing on various aspects of the sewage crisis, bringing needed attention to the issue as trade negotiations were underway. Levin and Peters also praised EPA officials for being receptive to the San Diego region’s concerns, which lessens fears that sewage repairs could become one more way for President Donald Trump to stick it to California.
It’s astounding elected officials took so long to confront this problem in concert. But now that headway is being made, Levin, Peters, Davis, Vargas, Pelosi, Feinstein, Sen. Kamala Harris, Faulconer and, yes, Trump deserve praise. Thanks for turning talk into action.
