Millions of dollars from county reserves will go toward new initiatives intended to provide South County residents with some relief from the ongoing Tijuana River sewage crisis.
On Wednesday, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved setting aside nearly $9 million from its rainy-day funds to pay for a pipeline project in the Tijuana River Valley. The project is designed to mitigate airborne contaminants, provide more air purifiers for people exposed to the pollution, and fund public health studies.
"South Bay residents, myself included, have been enduring this crisis for decades — breathing in sewage gases and cancer-causing chemicals," Supervisor Paloma Aguirre said in a statement. "This funding isn't just a line item; it’s a lifeline. Clean air is a fundamental human right, and today, we took action to protect that right for our residents, especially our most vulnerable students, elderly, and families."
About half the funds, or $4 million, will go toward expanding the San Diego Air Pollution Control District’s Air Improvement Relief Effort program. Since its launch in 2024, the district said it has distributed more than 10,000 air purifiers and filters to San Diego and Imperial Beach households. The units contain activated carbon and potassium permanganate, which help reduce hydrogen sulfide from indoor air.
Varying levels of hydrogen sulfide have been detected in South County communities near the polluted Tijuana River. People who live and work there have reported symptoms such as chronic coughs, headaches, nausea and other respiratory issues.
A district survey, released late last year, found that most residents who used the purifiers felt healthier.
Last year, the district committed to investing $1 million to buy 3,500 more units for those who have not received one and continue running the program this year. But the county funding approved Wednesday could help the district expand its program even further so that each household could receive more devices. Citing state public health guidelines, district board members have been pushing to offer more than one purifier per household.
County funds will also cover the following:
- $2.5 million for a pipeline project at Saturn Boulevard in the Tijuana River Valley, an area researchers have found to be a hot spot for airborne sewage pollution. The money would go toward building a temporary pipe extension below the water surface to prevent the toxic water droplets from spraying into a downstream area of the river.
- $2.25 million for public health studies, including a $2 million multiyear epidemiological study. It would follow up to 2,000 people “over time to assess potential health impacts associated with varying levels of exposure related to the TJRV (Tijuana River Valley) sewage crisis,” according to a county report. The long-term study is expected to cost $6 million and the remaining funds would be raised from other sources, according to the county.
The studies would follow surveys federal agencies have conducted in recent years, including those from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Results affirmed that exposure to the pollution has upended the lives of South County residents and that their chronic health conditions have worsened.
Supervisor Jim Desmond cast the lone vote against using reserve funding for more studies.
“This is Mexico’s responsibility to solve the problem, which stems from their failing infrastructure,” he said. “We keep putting Band-Aids and doing more studies, but it doesn’t fix it.”
In response, Aguirre said, most of the information collected to date has been from surveys or anecdotal data.
“Does Mexico need to be doing more? Yes, a lot more. Is the issue coming from them? Yes, 100% from them,” she said. “But we can’t continue to bury our heads in the sand and not explore specific data collection that has to do with what are the chronic, long-term health effects.”
Also on Wednesday, board officials agreed to create a county position that would “bring urgency, accountability, and coordination to the County’s response to the Tijuana River Valley sewage crisis.”
The executive-level role, titled Pollution Crisis Chief, will focus on emergency response, environmental protection, infrastructure mitigation, public health monitoring and advocacy, according to the county.
Officials said recruitment is underway.
