Supervisors Order Study on Waste Shipment Laws

The recent discovery of chemical wastes from the United States in an illegal dump near the Mexican border town of Tecate prompted the San Diego County supervisors on Tuesday to agree to look into all regulations governing transportation of hazardous wastes through the county.

Under the plan, approved unanimously, the county’s chief administrative officer is to report to the board within 60 days on how much waste is crossing the border, what agencies oversee the shipments and what laws they enforce.

“We haven’t any information as to what there is,” said Supervisor George Bailey, who introduced the proposal after trying unsuccessfully to find out about transportation requirements. “If I was happy with the answers, I wouldn’t be proposing this. I wasn’t getting adequate information.”

Bailey said the report could be used as a basis for new controls if it suggests they are needed. He said he is especially interested in how wastes are packaged, the transportation risks, and the routes and times of shipments.

Bailey’s proposal recommends that county officials meet with representatives of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Customs, California Department of Health Services, San Diego County Hazardous Materials Unit and the county district attorney’s office.

“There is no indication from the Environmental Protection Agency that they have a handle on the issue,” Bailey wrote in his proposal to the board. “A determination needs to be made of the amount and impact of legal and illegal hazardous-waste disposal in the Mexican communities along the San Diego County border. At present, no agency is collecting this type of information.”

The question of legal and illegal shipments of U.S. wastes across the border arose last month after Mexican officials announced that they had discovered an illegal dump in Tecate to which Southern California industries had shipped industrial wastes.

Then last week, Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista) questioned whether there is sufficient state oversight of shipments of waste ink from Southern California newspapers and publishing companies to a Tijuana facility that recycles the ink into asphalt.

Federal, state and county regulatory officials say the transport of wastes into Mexico often goes relatively unmonitored because of limits on the jurisdiction of U.S. agencies when dealing with an international question.

On Tuesday, Bailey pointed out that the route to Tecate is mountainous and winding, raising the possibility of spills if materials are not packaged and trucked properly. Bailey noted that elsewhere in East County, a hazardous-waste transfer facility has tentatively been proposed for the Campo Indian reservation, raising the possibility of additional shipments along San Diego County roads.