Rep. Duncan Hunter is calling on Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to stop the Tijuana River sewage flows, which the San Diego Congressman says are making Border Patrol agents sick and affecting Navy training.
Hunter, a Republican who represents east San Diego County, sent a letter to Tillerson and Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, urging immediate action.
In the letter last week, Hunter said the sewage outflow from the Tijuana River along the border is harming Border Patrol agents and affecting the training of Navy SEALs in the ocean south of Coronado.
“I have personally received reports of Border Patrol agents falling ill, being forced to leave their shifts and seek medical attention, possibly even putting their families at risk when these agents return home following events of exposure,” Hunter wrote. “Additionally, I am aware of critical military operations and exercises in the area being suspended because of the harmful conditions and risk the current spill poses.”
Strong winter storms caused the collapse of a major wastewater collector in Tijuana on Jan. 1, resulting in uncontrolled sewage flows into the Tijuana River. Then in February, more sewage spilled during repair work.
Hunter claimed Mexico is doing little to clean up the mess in the aftermath, calling the response “passive at best.”