Should the Tijuana River Valley be the next Superfund site in Southern California? San Diego Union-Tribune

Christopher Harris still remembers the melted rubber soles of a Border Patrol officer s work boots from a few years ago.

They were brand new, Harris, a retired Border Patrol agent who worked in San Diego for more than two decades, said Thursday. He brought me his boots (after chasing illegal crossers somewhere in the Tijuana River Valley) and said, I just went into this puddle of sludge and water and immediately noticed my feet were burning.

Other agents reported suffering blisters, red splotches and chemical burns after coming in contact with cross-border pollution. But these reports aren t new. More than six years ago, water-quality testing conducted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the canyons that empty into the river valley found all sorts of hazardous chemicals, such as the banned pesticide DDT and hexavalent chromium, the most toxic form of the metal chromium.

It s not just sewage; it s horrendous chemicals, too, Harris said.

He and others think something big needs to be done to cleanse the river valley of years of pollution flowing from Mexico into the U.S. through the lower Tijuana River: designating the area a Superfund site.

Should it be named one? Would it qualify? The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is expected to consider whether to petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to inspect the Tijuana River Valley and determine if it qualifies for federal assistance to clean it.

via www.sandiegouniontribune.com

Long overdue, I’d say.