San Diego County was not informed about a major sewage spill just south of the border that is affecting Imperial Beach, according to county officials.
"Right now we're hearing the quantity is about 31 million gallons total. Which is approximately the size of 50 Olympic sized swimming pools," said Wildcoast Conservation Director Ben McCue. “The most frustrating part is there has been a break down in communication among authorities on both sides of the border.”
The County’s Environmental Health Agency was not officially notified of the sewage spill, according to Chief of Land and Water Quality, Mark McPherson. He says the agency would normally get notification from the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC).
McCue claims the spill happened weeks ago.
“Something as simple as a public health notification was never put up for over three weeks because no one picked up the phone to make that call," he said.
McPherson’s agency is in charge of putting “keep out” signs along the shore when sewage dangers exist. He says signs have been up since mid December near the border, but signs were put up on Tuesday near the Imperial Beach pier as a precaution when they learned more about the possible contamination and saw that ocean currents were drifting north.
He downplayed the impact of the sewage spill, saying the Tijuana River during rainy season puts out 23 – 30 million gallons of sewage a day already, so another 1.3 million gallons isn’t a game changer.
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Authorities say the beach will be reopened after bacteria samples show the water is no longer contaminated.
The county took water samples on Tuesday and expects the results back Wednesday afternoon. In the meantime, people are being urged to stay out of the water.
“This is the first I've heard of the sewage spill, but I'm not that worried about it. There is always sewage after the rain and stuff, so I think we'll be ok," said surfer Tom VanPelt.
NBC San Diego left a message with an IBWC spokesperson to ask if they received notification from Mexican officials. So far, the call has not been returned.
