Hunter Offers ‘Defensive’ Tijuana Sewer

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Coronado) proposed Friday that the $30 million Congress has approved for a binational sewage treatment plant be used to build a “defensive” pipeline that would run from a Tijuana border pump station west across U.S. flatlands, then south back to Tijuana.

Hunter and Rep. Jim Bates (D-San Diego) said at a San Diego press conference that the pipeline would collect sewage spills along the border and would provide an alternative to Mexico’s proposed treatment plant in eastern Tijuana.

U.S. officials oppose the eastern phase of Mexico’s two-pronged sewage treatment plan because the waste water could run from the plant into the Tijuana River, which flows into the United States.

Mexico wants to use its treated waste water to irrigate farmland, but U.S. technicians say a malfunction of the eastern plant or failure to recycle all of the water would send the treated or untreated sewage into the United States.

The Mexican plan calls for construction of Tijuana’s first sewage treatment plant four miles south of the city within a year. The proposed eastern plant, at the juncture of the Alamar and Tijuana rivers, would be built within five years.

Mexican officials have opted for their own sewage treatment system over the U.S. proposal for a binational plant in the United States. The Mexican government says it wants to resolve its own problems. It also says its system would be less expensive to build and operate.

Hunter told reporters at the Bahia Resort Hotel that a 60-inch pipeline could handle up to 100 million gallons of sewage daily and could feed into a second treatment plant along the Baja California coast, where much of the area’s farmland lies. He suggested that Mexico could build its second treatment plant 5 to 15 miles south of the border.

“It’s our defensive plan. It’s our guarantee,” Hunter said.

The proposed pipeline would run across privately held farmland, but Hunter said the government has an easement across the properties.

The alternative plan has been presented to Mexican Ministry of Ecology and Urban Development officials, who are studying it, Hunter said.

Hunter said $30 million could cover the cost of the five-mile U.S. portion of the pipeline--at about $300 per foot, including labor--plus a portion of it in Mexico, small pumping stations, and part of a water reclamation system in Mexico.

“I would like to see Mexico pay for part of the pipeline and reclamation ponds. If they want to go 15 miles south, our $30 million is not going to stretch that far,” Hunter said.

He said the pipeline would be hooked to interceptor lines to catch stray sewage along border gullies and any spills resulting from breaks in Mexico’s new 42-inch pipeline that runs along the border. “This would protect San Diego beaches. It is reliable, cost-effective and would allow the Mexican government to reclaim its water,” Hunter said.

The U.S. bill approving the $30 million in sewage funds calls for Mexico to reimburse the United States in kind. Hunter said that he would accept a water reclamation plant in Mexicali as a “quid pro quo.” Raw waste water runs from the Mexicali sewage treatment plant, which because of poor maintenance doesn’t treat the sewage, into the New River and into Calexico, Calif.

Hunter said he thinks that the pipeline and the water reclamation system meet the requirements of the bill that approved the $30 million, so the funds should not have to be reapproved by Congress. But he said a certification from the President regarding Mexican reimbursement would still be necessary. If there should be a problem with interpretation of the language, Hunter said he sees no problem in receiving new approval for the project.

He said such a pipeline could be built within a year.