Wealthy coastal town is left furious as it's dubbed 'stinkiest beach in America' due to sewage crisis: 'The smell wakes us up at night'
A wealthy southern California town has been deemed the 'stinkiest beach in America' from the sewage crisis.
Wendy Fry, a reporter with Mercury News, said Tuesday was the quintessential beach day in San Diego, where the affluent towns of La Jolla and Del Mar are located.
While the beaches were packed, Fry said the coastline was eerily deserted.
The culprit? Over 100 billion gallons of raw sewage from Mexico's Tijuana River, dumped into the Pacific Ocean over the past five years.
This untreated sewage has become a recurring nightmare for Imperial Beach, a small coastal town of about 26,000 residents.
A wealthy southern California town has been deemed the 'stinkiest beach in America' from the sewage crisis
While the beaches are packed in San Diego, the coastline, specifically in Imperial Beach, has been eerily deserted. The culprit? Over 100 billion gallons of raw sewage from Mexico 's Tijuana River, dumped into the Pacific Ocean over the past five years
The contamination regularly forces beach closures and the smell can be overpowering.
'Imagine opening a manhole cover and just swan-diving in, and that's what hanging out on the beach is like now,' Imperial Beach resident Wilson Howard told Fry.
'(The smell) wakes you up in the night. That's how strong it is,' said Cara Knapp, who lives on the oceanfront Seacoast Drive with the beach as her backyard, told Fry.
Imperial Beach, once a renowned surfing destination, has fallen victim to the the wastewater surges that have been washing ashore for decades.
'They call us 'the stinkiest beach.' Who wants to buy a home – a million dollars and up – and be considered 'the stinkiest beach in the United States?' said Knapp.
The sewage problem has also contributed to the ongoing issue of inequality and the large gap between socioeconomic classes.
The untreated sewage has become a recurring nightmare for Imperial Beach, a small coastal town of about 26,000 residents
A significant portion of the raw sewage originates in impoverished Tijuana colonias, neighborhoods where residents lack proper housing due to poverty, according to Fay Crevoshay, the communications and policy director of the international nonprofit WILDCOAST.
These communities build makeshift homes using scrap materials like garage doors and tires, and often lack connection to public sanitation systems.
Their sewage flows directly into a canal that eventually reaches the US, she says.
When it rains, this canal overflows, carrying trash and sewage straight into the working-class communities of Southern California's South Bay.
Pictured: A map of beaches in San Diego that are most affected by the sewage
'I like how in the U.S. they describe these communities as 'underserved.' In Mexico, it's 'No served.' No service. Nothing service,' said Crevoshay.
Researchers say the toxins from the sewage water pose a threat to public health, which is why Imperial Beach is closed more often than not.
Governor Gavin Newsom has refused to declare a state of emergency without explanation, according to Voice of San Diego.
Meanwhile, Senator Steve Padilla and assembly member David Alvarez who overlooks a district in South County, want the Center of Disease Control and Prevention intervene.
'They just need to show people that they care because right now, with the exception David Alvarez, our state assembly member, and Steve Padilla, our state senator,' said Serge Dedina, the executive director of WILDCOAST and former mayor of Imperial Beach.
'We feel pretty abandoned by our state elected officials on this issue and by our state agencies as well.'
Despite Imperial Beach seeing over 700 consecutive days of beach closures, residents continue to endure the daily effects of pollution.
Baron Partlow, one of the affected residents, started 'Stop the Poop,' an organization that has been outspoken about the struggles these residents face
'You can smell it all night long, you can't open your windows, you can't close them cause it still gets in, you can eat cause it makes you nauseous you can't sleep it's horrible,' Partlow told CBS 8 San Diego
Last week, South Bay residents gathered at the Coral Gate community park to share their frustrations and come up with solutions to the smell of sewage from the Tijuana River Valley in their neighborhoods.
Baron Partlow, one of the affected residents, started 'Stop the Poop,' an organization that has been outspoken about the struggles these residents face.
'You can smell it all night long, you can't open your windows, you can't close them cause it still gets in, you can eat cause it makes you nauseous you can't sleep it's horrible,' Partlow told CBS 8 San Diego.
Partlow has began monthly meeting with Leon Behnam from Citizens for Coastal Conservancy to talk about solutions for the issue that has placed their beaches for months.
