An environmental group won a $100,000 state grant today for a pilot project to collect and recycle worn-out tires that are trekked from California to Tijuana, to stop them from being carried by rain runoff back into the U.S.
According to Wildcoast, around 1 million discarded tires from California are transported to Mexico every year, but storm water dislodges them and carries them into the Tijuana River Valley and estuary north of the border, where they threaten the habitat.
The grant was approved by the California-Mexico Border Relations Council, part of the state Environmental Protection Agency.
“This watershed is one of our region’s most precious natural resources but it has constantly been threatened,” said Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D- San Diego, who announced the award. “The environmental impact of tires and other debris and pollutants in the Tijuana River Valley cannot be underestimated.”
According to Wildcoast, government agencies spend millions of taxpayer dollars to remove around 80,000 pounds of tires every year from the Tijuana River Valley Regional Park, Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, Border Field State Park and the Tijuana River Mouth State Marine Conservation Area.
The tires can leach heavy metals into the soil and affect land-based and aquatic organisms, impacting the area’s ecology, according to the nonprofit. They can also clog waterways, causing flooding.
Wildcoast plans to use the grant money to collect and shred up to 100,000 tires in Tijuana that are close to the border and watershed, and recycle the pieces so they can be used in “tire-derived” products like asphalt and athletic fields.
The organization will work with the state of Baja California, waste management company Promotora Ambiental S.A. de C.V, and Eco Commodities LLC, which buys and sells recycled commodities.
“This is a critical first step in cleaning up waste tires that have a significant impact on public and environmental health in the Tijuana River Valley, as well as on the open space there,” said Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina, a co-founder of Wildcoast.
“This innovative approach to cleaning up on the U.S.-Mexico border builds upon California’s excellent relationship with Baja California and Mexico and illustrates why working together with our neighbor to the south is the best approach to environmental problem solving.”
Authorities estimate 95 percent of the used tires that end up in Tijuana come from California.
–City News Service
