San Diego County leaders intend to reopen the Tijuana River Valley Campground next week despite the sewage in the area. NBC 7’s Dave Summers reports.
The Tijuana River Valley Regional Park Campground sits vacant with a closed sign for a greeting. Behind it are 10 yurts, 13 campsites, bocce ball court, cornhole, horseshoe pits, stunning valley views and trails.
According to the county, it will reopen next week, to the chagrin of many people living and working in the area.
Pony Land, a horse-riding and petting zoon business, operates just down the road.
“The quality of the air down here is not good,” wrangler Mariya Kolesnichenko said.
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Kolesnichenko leads trail rides through the valley. Some used to include a stop at the campground before it closed.
“This area could be so much nicer and prettier," Kolesnichenko said. "Unfortunately, it is covered in trash all over everywhere.”
David Fujimoto, an attorney for Service Employees International Union Local 221, which represents county park rangers, wrote a cease-and-desist letter to San Diego County's operations director, Jason Hemmens.
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“Local 221 requests that the county cease-and-desist in reopening the campground at this time," Fujimoto wrote. "Local 221 demands that the county first bargain with the union about the decision on whether to reopen the campground."
Paloma Aguirre, who is running for county supervisor, has been fighting for Tijuana River Valley cleanup since she’s been Imperial Beach Mayor
“Reopening this campground while the air and water remain compromised is dangerous to rangers and campersm and a waste of our tax dollars,“ Aguirre said.
The storms of January 2024 caused Smuggler’s Gulch to overflow and flood the campground, and with the water came all the garbage and the sewage. A retired park ranger said that the campground was flooded for almost a year. Now that Smuggler’s Gulch is dry, it's easy to see all the contaminants.
“It was definitely sewage," retired ranger Dale Noonkaster told NBC 7 on Friday.
Noonkaster spent eight years of his ranger career working in the Tijuana River Valley. The contaminated tributary that runs through Smuggler's Gulch and connects to the Tijuana River is an often overlooked but dangerous waterway.
“You get a lot of trash," Noonkaster said. "You get a lot of sewage, and a lot of chemicals come through here."
According to the Parks & Rec website, the county worked with the city of San Diego to complete sediment and trash removal throughout Smuggler’s Gulch. It says the channel was restabilized and the campsite barrier damage repaired.
The county did not respond to NBC 7's questions before this story aired but spokesperson Donna Durke reportedly emailed a statement to the San Diego Union-Tribune that said, in part: “The county worked closely with park employees throughout the process to reopen the park and ensure a safe environment."
County communications director Tammy Glenn told NBC 7, in part, that the county worked closely with park employees throughout the process over the course of several meetings to address concerns, discuss personal protective equipment and provide the results of soil testing and air quality data.
For now, the objections have not changed the scheduled April Fool’s Day reopening. While critics might prefer that it was a prank, the county seems determined to see it through.
The park rangers' union attorney said that because the decision to reopen the campground directly involves Local 221’s members’ health and safety, precedent demands that the reopening is the subject of collective bargaining.
