Border Patrol Wants To Examine Mexican Sewage And How It's Affecting Agents And More Local News
Speaker 1: 00:00 Good morning. It's April 15th I'm Deb Welsh and you are listening to San Diego news matters. Raw sewage coming in from Mexico isn't just a problem for surfers and beach scores in San Diego. South County, KPBS reporter Matt Hoffman says, US Border Patrol agents are working in areas where contaminated water pours in from Tijuana. Speaker 2: 00:21 Ah, that's not one of these days. I'm not going to be able to stand it anymore. Speaker 3: 00:26 That's border patrol agent Amber Craig's reaction to the smell of rotten untreated sewage. Speaker 2: 00:31 So this is the main river channel where the two one of river first crosses the international boundary from Mexico into the United States. It's sunny out right now. We haven't had any storms and yet there's water flowing here. So if there's water flowing here and it hasn't been raining, then that means that this is basically raw sewage. Untreated sewage Speaker 3: 00:50 agents are used to working in this environment, Speaker 2: 00:52 a fecal coliform ams and basically human waste is kind of the generic way to to describe it. Very, very high levels. If 10,000 most probable number is the, is the unit that's measured. So 10,000 NPN is the maximum that's recommended for human safety, health, safety, recreational exposure. Uh, we would see it in the, you know, 1,000,002 million more than that. Speaker 3: 01:17 They're supposed to be a system in place that takes this water to a treatment plant. Speaker 2: 01:20 So if it's coming here, then that's not happening. And that shouldn't happen when it's not raining. Speaker 3: 01:25 Agents often catch people illegally crossing along the channel. Speaker 2: 01:28 If there's water flowing, they're getting in it and it's a hazard to them and it's a hazard to the agent who has to apprehend them. Speaker 3: 01:35 And that could cause the spread of bacteria to others in border patrol custody. So Speaker 2: 01:39 typically we'll have to hose them off. And that's something that's all. It's very new for us now. It's not something that is our area of expertise as border patrol agents. That's not our job. We're not supposed to be decommissioned Speaker 4: 01:51 work Speaker 3: 01:54 border patrol pays contractors to try and keep this channel as clear as possible. They use excavators and heavy construction equipment to move built up, sewage Speaker 2: 02:02 debris, plastics, trash, sewage, I mean it all comes over the border so it has to be cleaned out on a daily basis. Somebody is sitting just down when up wind of this 24 hours a day here and in other locations, so we're exposed to whatever it is and we just don't know really what the longterm effects are. Speaker 3: 02:25 Last year US Customs and Border Protection commissioned a study to see what was in some of the sewage coming from Mexico. Speaker 2: 02:31 We're still at the beginning process to try to figure out what is, what is maybe naturally occurring and what is not and and, and what is going to be a hazard for us as agents working in and around it and definitely being exposed to it. Yeah. Speaker 3: 02:44 There are channels all along the border where sewage regularly comes in from Mexico. Speaker 4: 02:50 Okay. Speaker 2: 02:50 This has been going on forever. It's always been an issue. Speaker 3: 02:54 The border patrol took us to another spot that's known for sewage spills. It was a warm day and the SUV were riding and had the air conditioner on. As we approached another drain, the strong stink of rotten sewage started pouring into the vehicle. Speaker 2: 03:06 We're just exposed to it all the time. Hold on. We got to get that on recycle. That's horrible. Smell it. Um, you know, we're just exposed to it and so we kind of will. It's your job. It's our job. It's what we do and so we're, we haven't been very good about paying close attention to where we were when our boots melted or where I was when I got that rash. Speaker 3: 03:26 The border patrol is now paying closer attention. The agency is filling out reports when agents get sick to try and spot trends. The border patrol has been investing in protective gear for its agents working in the field. That includes things like seat covers for vehicles, charcoal masks and showers to decontaminate agents. Speaker 2: 03:43 That's all new. Yeah. We didn't have any of that before and we didn't really think about it before. Right. Speaker 3: 03:47 Just last month, US customs and border protection wrapped up another study looking at what was inside the sewage. Speaker 2: 03:53 We know there are things that are hazardous. We just don't know what exactly they are. How hazard as they are and what do we need to do to stay away from it to protect ourselves from it. You know, w we'll figure that all out. Hopefully with all the testing. Speaker 3: 04:06 Craig says she's encouraged seeing politicians at the federal, state and local level calling for the sewage issue to be fixed. Speaker 2: 04:12 I have never felt so positive as I do today that that perhaps we might actually make some progress with minimizing these. These flows from Mexico Speaker 3: 04:21 by studying the sewage, the border patrol hopes to better understand what exactly is coming from Mexico. Matt Hoffman KPBS news Speaker 1: 04:30 students from city Heights Push San Diego schools to adopt an alternative discipline policy. Back in 2017 KPBS reporter Prius there says a local lawmaker is now promoting the change statewide assembly woman Shirley Weber wants to brand the month of September as restorative practices in school awareness month in California, restorative practices prioritize mediation, counseling and communication over a suspension and expulsion. Students from a city Heights based nonprofit helped push the San Diego Unified School district to adopt the practices. Now because of its success. Weber introduced a resolution to promote the program statewide, Speaker 2: 05:13 but what happens is these young people then get involved in helping individuals look at the problems they're facing, look at who's been hurt by the problems, figure out ways to kind of bring that person back. Speaker 1: 05:23 Research shows students who were permanently or temporarily kicked out of school are more likely to come in contact with the juvenile criminal justice system. Prius, Schreder k PBS news. San Diego's getting a look at what could become of downtown's Horton Plaza. KPBS is Maya travels. He has more on the plans to turn the shopping center into a campus for technology, Stockdale capital partners. Horton Plaza as new owner revealed part of its re-imagined vision for the downtown mall space. The company released three visual renderings for the 10 block that features floor to ceiling glass, outdoor decks and four more stories. The company plans to transform this space into a downtown hub for technology firms and about 4,000 workers. San Diego State University marketing lecturer, Miro COPEC says San Diego needs to do a better job attracting high tech software firms. Speaker 5: 06:17 We've done really well as a city attracting biotech and medical device manufacturers. We've stalled a little bit on the technology firms and this is a way to get these technology firms here in San Diego. What makes San Diego very attractive place for that? Speaker 1: 06:30 If and when the city council approves the plans, construction is expected to be completed by the end of next year, my a triple c k PBS news, the annual grape crush report is in and California's 2018 wine grape crop total, 4.5 million tons. That's up 6% from the previous year. Capital public radio is Julia. Rich has more. The last time California's wine grape crop was this big, was 2013 but the makeup of this crop is quite different. According to Steve Fredricks, president of Turpentine brokerage in Marin, which brokers bulk wines and grapes. He says the latest numbers reflect the rising popularity of varietals from the Lodi Clarksburg region and the coast with more plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Speaker 6: 07:19 Pinot Noir, and it's just showing a trend of the evolution of the wine business as consumers are drinking differently, maybe better quality wines, higher priced wines, and looking to varietals and from some of the regions that the grapes had been planted in those areas. Speaker 1: 07:35 Frederick says, the report also confirms what wine industry brokers already knew. Central Valley growers south of Lodi have transitioned away from grapes to crops like almonds and citrus that earn more per acre in Sacramento. I'm Julia meet trich. Electric car ownership in California is growing faster than ever according to a new report. Capital public radio's Randall white has more. Speaker 6: 08:00 The first quarter of 2019 saw a year over year sales increase of 13% gen Poway is a spokeswoman for vellows, a nonprofit organization that tracks and promotes the electric car industry. She says for years, ownership numbers languished around one to 2%. Then edged up around 2012 to four to 5% but recently sales have seen a surge Speaker 5: 08:22 just in the last six months or so. The percentage of new car sales that are electric of hovered around 9% which is really record breaking for California car sales. Speaker 6: 08:33 Bellows also uses US Census Bureau's statistics to rate California's export industries power. He says electric cars are now the state's seventh largest foreign export category by value just behind almonds. Tesla is by far the largest Evie manufacturer in the state in Sacramento. I'm Randall white. Speaker 1: 08:52 The Pentagon has just implemented a Trump administration policy that greatly restricts transgender people from joining or serving in the military. Policy took effect Friday though it still faces several legal challenges. Some service branches are trying to lessen the impact on transgender troops. As Carson frame reports for the American Home Front project under the new rule, trans troops who were already in the military Speaker 5: 09:17 can you to serve, but they can't transition to another sex unless they were diagnosed with gender dysphoria before the policy took effect. April 12th troops who can't comply, can be discharged as a result advocate, say trans service members and would be recruits scrambled to meet the deadline. Speaker 7: 09:35 There's definitely been a rush to get doctor's appointments and expedite the process of obtaining the diagnosis. Speaker 5: 09:42 Jamie Hash is an air force tech sergeant who transitioned to being a woman several years ago. She speaks on behalf of trans people who serve and his counsel air force leaders about how best to support their trans colleagues. Hash argues that the policy has forced people to decide in a hurry whether to come out as trans and seek a diagnosis. Speaker 7: 10:00 I think for some people they may not have been in a situation where they were ready to start the process, but this new policy has kind of put them in a situation where they either have to attain now or they will no longer be able to in the future. Speaker 5: 10:17 Getting a diagnosis proved challenging for many, especially for those who were deployed. Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel Brief Ram is a member of Sparta, a transgender military advocacy group. If I had to say top two issues that surface members have faced, it's getting an appointment and seeing a doctor willing to diagnose them, given the criteria that are required. Luckily, we've had a number of military medical providers go out of their way to add additional appointments or considered telemedicine. For some folks that are deployed or just having trouble getting an appointment. Fram says many trans people who are serving don't yet have a gender dysphoria diagnosis. For reasons like career uncertainty or social stigma. Honestly, we're worried that they're going to leave the service and they have a lot to offer, but if they need to take care of themselves, they may need to leave the service in order to do that. Speaker 5: 11:05 Current service members aren't the only ones who were crunched by the deadline. Fram says openly transgender people trying to enlist, met with a barrage of misinformation at recruiting offices even before April 12th when it was still okay for them to join. So varies wildly because recruited by recruiters, they have different information and different information sources. So some people will talk to a recruiter and the recruiter will sell no, that the policy is we don't take trans people and they might be basing that on a tweet or something they heard otherwise, but not the actual policy. Some service branches have taken steps to mitigate the policies impact according to advocates. Sparta says the Air Force made it easier for airman to submit and get provisional approval for gender dysphoria diagnoses made by civilian doctors. Meanwhile, the Navy has announced that trans service members can dress as their preferred gender while off duty throughout the military. Speaker 5: 11:57 Some troops were given leeway if they had trouble getting a gender dysphoria diagnosis from a military doctor in time. Shannon Minter is the legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights and a lawyer challenging the policy. He says the services don't like the Defense Department's new rule. They don't want to ban transgender people. They recognize these are valuable colleagues. We've seen like this constant pattern of resistance of the military trying to soften the blow and protect transgender service members as much as they can. And then being constantly overridden, uh, by political leaders from the top. A spokesman for the air force didn't go that far, but said we're in the business of taking care of airmen and commanders at all levels and we'll continue to do so. This is Carson frame reporting. Speaker 1: 12:46 This story was produced by the American Home Front project, a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veteran's funding comes from the corporation for public broadcasting. Thanks for listening to KPBS is San Diego news matters podcast. For more local stories, go to k pbs.org.
