S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on this episode of KPBS Midday Edition with fecal contaminants in the water and air will talk about the policies driving our sewage crisis. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. Every day , millions of gallons of sewage and toxic waste flows through the Tijuana River and is dumped into the Pacific Ocean. The pollution continues to be a major environmental and health concern on both sides of the border. Policy makers , scientists and community groups have been trying to address this sewage crisis for years. So how did we get at this point and how is it continuing to impact communities today? I'm here with Paula Stiegler Granados. She's an associate professor at the Sdsu School of Public Health and has led research on this crisis for many years. Professor Granados , welcome back to midday. How are you? Great.
S2: Great. Thanks for having me.
S1: Thanks for taking the time today. At a press conference earlier today , county Supervisors Tara Lawson Reamer and Paloma Aguirre announced a plan that would treat sewage on this side of the border. So remind us of the scale of this issue , how much sewage is flowing in the river and making its way to our oceans.
S2: You know , this is a question that we have been watching and monitoring for decades , and it changes over time. I do know that , you know , our current South Bay International Wastewater Treatment plant is treating up to 35 million gallons a day , but not all of the wastewater that's supposed to go through that system is going through the system , and it makes its way into the river. At last check , I was looking about 11 million gallons. Was showing up on the river flow gauges that they have in the river. And right now , we really shouldn't have any water flowing through the river right now because it is a dry , seasonal river. So we could estimate that what isn't getting treated depends on the flow at the time and infrastructure breaks and pumps , etc. so the the number changes over time , in other words. But in , you know , from a perspective of what we've been looking at as a community , really zero , you know , sewage or wastewater should be making its way into the river and out into the ocean and running through our communities. So 11 to 12 million gallons is what I saw on the gauge for the last couple of days on a daily basis.
S1: What's it , what's it been like this summer for people who live near or have gone to Imperial Beach , who live near the river. What's it been like?
S2: Well , what I've been hearing a lot of is that , you know , our beaches continue to be closed. It's unsafe to get into the water. We have a lot of smells coming from the river that's flowing through the communities. A lot of people reporting headaches and illnesses that they're experiencing , especially at night when a lot of the gases from the river and the flows tend to be the highest. So I'm still hearing that it's a problem. And again , we have some better days than others. But again , every day there's some amount of waste flowing through those rivers that's potentially making people sick.
S1: I would imagine the heat and humidity , um , have only made this this worse.
S2: Absolutely not helping people here in San Diego. We have to keep our windows open and air flowing. And whenever you have your windows open and you have these toxic gases moving into your homes because of the river flows from , you know , untreated wastewater , it's making it fairly unbearable for most people.
S1: You were one of the lead researchers behind a huge survey that looked at the health impacts of the sewage. And while the full results aren't out yet , what can you tell us about what you found so far?
S2: Yeah , we've definitely heard the same things that our San Diego County Public Health offices had heard through their surveys with the CDC and people nauseated , headaches , gastrointestinal problems , respiratory illnesses abound , especially whenever the flow tends to be the highest in the river and the gasses seem to be the highest readings that we have as well in our on our monitors.
S1: What are the main factors and policies exacerbating the sewage crisis today?
S2: This is , you know , a really good question. Um , I think that the policies of underfunding our infrastructure is really been the heart of this problem for years. The operation and maintenance hasn't been kept up. and , you know , political will to fund infrastructure like this hasn't always been there. I'm seeing it moving in the direction where we are definitely having a lot more investment into that infrastructure , but the political will and the policies really have to be there in order to protect public health. So , um , I think just the lack of investment into our infrastructure and redundancies being ready for like when a pipe breaks or whenever there's a large storm that surges , I think all of those things have to be ready , because , again , I'll always go back to the idea that no amount of wastewater running through a community is acceptable. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And the South Bay Ocean Outfall Pipeline , for example , is located about three and a half miles from Imperial Beach , and it dumps untreated wastewater into the ocean somehow that then circulates back around. Tell me a bit about that. And , um , if you feel like there was a lack of vision in in making that plan.
S2: You know , the South Bay ocean outfalls kind of very similar to what we have at our Point Loma wastewater treatment plant , in that we have these long pipelines that go out and drop the waste water out. It is treated to like a primary , um , treated stage , which is the similar that we do at our Point Loma wastewater treatment facilities. And I think that for now , that's what we have along our coastline because of the lack of infrastructure to really treat to a secondary. So if you're looking at how you treat wastewater , you can remove all the , you know , the large pieces of waste in the wastewater. And then you have like a basic treatment process. That's what's going out there right now in terms of how that circulates back up and around the coastline. I think that's research that's being done. Um , you know , through scripts and UCSD and also the San Diego County is , you know , their , their water quality program is also looking at how much of the bacteria and things are getting into the coastline. That's something that they've been watching for a really long time. Um , I do think we need to improve that infrastructure , but for now it is treating some of the water that's going out there. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. Um , for a long time , also the Tijuana River sewage crisis , um , was seen as a water issue , not an air issue. How has that impacted the way policymakers have responded to it? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. So for the longest time we just thought that this was beach closures and surfers , you know , don't get in the water. Um , but now we realize that it does become aerosolized. And there's been a lot of research that's been done , especially our partners like Doctor Kim Prather Lab at UCSD and several other people at Scripps have been looking at this aerosolized ocean issue. And how we're treating this now is that people like the Air Pollution Control Board are getting involved. The district is now putting hydrogen sulfide monitors closer to the river. They're partnering with UCSD as well to look at how much of this is converting into gases and aerosols. We're looking at other types of gases that are coming off of the river. I know our team at Sdsu is looking at low cost sensors , like silicone wristbands , that we can hang up to understand what's getting into the air from the water. So I think that , you know , people like or the groups like the Air Pollution Control District have had to jump in and help out. You know , they're putting out air purifiers into the community through the Ada program. Um , I'm now sitting on the California Air Resources Board as well , representing San Diego and talking with them about their toxic air monitoring program and how we can improve understanding of how this , uh , you know , this wastewater is really affecting our our community's air quality as well as water quality. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. You mentioned that Governor Gavin Newsom recently appointed you to be on that California Air Resources Board. Um , congratulations to you. Um , but talk talk more about , you know , about that and how you're advocating for this , the sewage crisis on that level. Yeah.
S2: Yeah. You know , the California Air Resources Board always has a representative from San Diego , from our local air pollution control district on the board. I was recently appointed. I replaced Mayor Todd Gloria on that board. And , you know , a lot of what Carb does is , you know , looking at emissions from , you know , pollution and things like that. And one of their new programs is sort of a toxic air roadmap. And I've been helping to sort of talk with Carb about how do we improve our framework for understanding things like hydrogen sulfide gases in our communities. And I know that , you know , responding to that are several other , um , people like Senator Padilla and Blake Spahr are also looking at policies that , um , Carb would also be working with them on to help improve some of the conditions in our South Bay.
S1: Well , you know , there are a few bills related to this crisis that have made their way through the California legislature. One of them you actually helped with the language on , and that is SB 58. If passed , what would that bill do?
S2: You know , this is a bill that , um , Senator Padilla had put into motion , and I believe it's just going up to the governor's office now. Um , but what it's really looking at doing is directing the California Air Resources Board and our Office of Environmental Health and Hazard Assessment to really take a look at what's a framework for responding to hydrogen sulfide in particular , that would help local air districts , especially to be able to have best practices and guidance for looking at how to address these issues and preparing communities for them. And I think that this framework is really intended to help in the bigger picture , give a comprehensive evaluation of how things like hydrogen sulfide exposures are affecting our communities , especially at like a chronic level. So it's one thing to get sick from an acute level of high levels of hydrogen sulfide. And it's another thing to sort of be bombarded by it on a on a chronic daily basis or nightly basis. And we really need to understand that a lot better so that we can help our local air districts respond to that better.
S1: Um , how long do you think it'll take to get the kind of research necessary to create policy change , or more urgency to fix this problem?
S2: Well , we've been working as a researcher. I've been with my colleagues and other institutions doing this research for many , many years now. And I think the newest research that's starting to really come out again , showing that it's not just in the water , that it's also in the air , is already starting to impact policies because , you know , I'm a scientist , researcher in the field. And suddenly I found myself sitting on these governing boards advising on the science. And I think that , you know , right now we're finally starting to see some meaningful progress. And so I don't think it's going to take that long. But I do think we still have a lot more to understand. And there's , I think a difference between , like , what's interesting for research and what's necessary for policymaking. And I think we're right in the middle of that zone right now , really starting to understand how the science is going to impact policies. And it's starting to.
S1: How are you working with health care providers in the region to address the impacts of this contamination?
S2: You know , that's a really good question. I know that a lot of what we've been hearing from community members and from local doctors is not really understanding the connection between what people are seeing and feeling in their communities with regards to environmental exposures and how to translate that into what health care providers can help them with. And so one of the things that we just launched , and it's starting September 23rd , is a health care provider , Echo Series echo stands for. I always forget what it stands for , but it's it's basically a network of providers doing peer to peer education about how I think it's extension for community health outcomes. There it is. There we go. Um , yeah. It's basically a way to give peer to peer education about important topics that are kind of niche. And so this will be like our local South Bay Urgent care doctors , doctors Kimberly and Matt Dixon will be our first people giving a talk and case presentations about what they're seeing in their community around gastrointestinal illnesses , and we plan to have these once a month with free continuing medical education credit for our local health care providers to sign on and listen to what's been going on and give some perspective about what they're seeing with their patients. And my hope is that this will create a collective group of health care providers in our region that are able to respond and track these issues , and then we can feed that back into our county public health system so that we'll have a better understanding of how people are really being impacted. Because , as we found out through this crisis ongoing , not a lot of people may be going to the hospital as much as they are just chronically ill and sometimes just going to their local providers or urgent care clinics. And so it's difficult to track what goes on at just a local urgent care primary care level. And so hopefully this will help provide more of a background for physicians to to document some of these issues happening with their patients.
S1: That is an interesting point that you you bring up there. Um , there's there's been a slow but growing awareness of the issue and its impact on our communities. Do you see that as a silver lining?
S2: I do , I do. And having worked on this issue for a really long time , you know , starting out as a grad student a long time ago , doing this particular issue , I think that I am seeing a lot more people talk about it. It's become , you know , more in the news. It's making its way up , you know , to the offices at the state level as well , internationally. We're talking about changes in Tijuana as well. Mexico's been making some changes as well. And so I do see that this is getting more exposure. And it's helping to bring more understanding to the issue and hopefully bring a solution. Because again , this shouldn't be happening anywhere in the world , especially right here in our yard.
S1: I've been speaking with Paula Stigler. Granados. She's an associate professor at the Sdsu School of Public Health and head of its environmental health division. We'll link to resources related to the sewage crisis on our page. PBS.org. Professor Granados , thank you so very much for your time and congratulations on your appointment.
S2: Thank you so much. Great to be here.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
