US one step closer to ‘100%’ deal with Mexico ending decades-long sewage crisis gripping vacation hotspot: EPA

The U S and Mexico are one step closer to permanently ending a sewage situation spewing from across the boundary into waters off the coast of San Diego Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin communicated This week EPA transmitted to Mexico a proposed cure that would PERMANENTLY END the decades-old predicament of raw sewage flowing in to the U S from Mexico Next technical groups from both nations will be meeting to work through the details necessary to hopefully reach an urgent agreement Zeldin posted to X on Friday Zeldin visited San Diego last month where he declared talks with his governing body counterparts in Mexico to end the decades-long issue The difficulty blamed on outdated wastewater infrastructure has persisted for decades but has spiraled in newest years as Tijuana's population skyrocketed The sewage water has not only threatened San Diego's massive tourism industry and local residents but also poses a national safeguard hazard as it pollutes the waters where U S Navy SEAL members and candidates train Fox Digital previously broadcasted EPA CHIEF ZELDIN LAUNCHES TALKS WITH MEXICO TO END SEWAGE HITTING SAN DIEGO NAVY SEALS 'OUT OF PATIENCE'The U S Naval Special Warfare Command is headquartered in San Diego and is where Navy SEAL candidates complete their arduous six-month Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL BUD S training at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado In February the Department of Defense's inspector general issued a account finding that the Naval Special Warfare Center released cases of acute gastrointestinal illnesses among SEAL candidates between January and May that were attributed to the contaminated water Veterans who spoke to Fox News Digital in April described the contaminated water as a national precaution predicament This is a huge national predicament Navy SEAL vet Jeff Gum who was sickened by the water when he was working through SEAL training in recounted Fox Digital in a Zoom interview last month Like half the SEAL teams are located in San Diego the other half are in Virginia Beach So when you've got half the SEAL teams who are getting exposed to this then it's a major issue EPA CHIEF TAKES ON MEXICAN 'SEWAGE CRISIS' FLOWING INTO US WATERS WHERE NAVY SEALS TRAIN Zeldin commented last month that he and his counterparts in Mexico had launched good-faith talks to update infrastructure and water management facilities adding that he zeroed in on the specifics including drafting a comprehensive list of everything that we believe with full confidence is going to end the emergency on both the U S side of the limit and Mexico's Now if you don't do all of the other projects and all you do is clean up the current contamination that feel-good moment will last about a day Zeldin commented during a press conference in San Diego last month We have to stop the flow in Mexico requirements to fulfill its part in cleaning up the contamination that they caused MEXICO IS POISONING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN A FRONTIER DILEMMA ALMOST NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT We need Mexico to not just commit to all the projects that will stop the flow but in order to authentically finish this project they're going to need to commit to that final cleanup he added Zeldin first addressed the sewage challenge in March before previewing the trip to take on the issue I was just briefed that Mexico is dumping large amounts of raw sewage into the Tijuana River and it s now seeping into the U S he posted to X on March This is unacceptable Mexico MUST honor its commitments to control this impurity and sewage Local leaders have been sounding the alarm on the sewage trouble Imperial Beach's Mayor Paloma Aguirre sent a letter to Zeldin in March describing how the raw sewage has sparked one of America s preponderance horrendous environmental and citizens fitness disasters as billions of gallons have polluted the Pacific Ocean since alone MEXICAN SEWAGE GUSHING INTO NAVY SEAL TRAINING WATERS IS US' 'NEXT CAMP LEJEUNE ' VETS WARN The toxic sewage coming across the dividing line from Mexico into South San Diego County is among America s majority horrendous environmental and society soundness disasters Aguirre's March letter to Zeldin published online reads Since over billion gallons of raw sewage polluted stormwater and trash have flowed across the Mexican confines down the Tijuana River through the cities of San Diego and Imperial Beach and into the Pacific Ocean Our residents are getting ill due to polluted air the letter continued Workers including Navy Seals training in the area have been sickened on the job by waterborne and aerosolized diseases A great number of homeowners have been forced to place air quality monitors on their property so they know whether or not it's safe to go outside And the economic impact is profound with the sewage situation hurting area tourism maritime industry jobs and local property values San Diego is one of the nation's top cities for tourism behind other national treasures such as New York City New Orleans and Washington D C attracting roughly million tourists to the city in the San Diego Tourism Authority previously stated SAN DIEGO SUBURB FACES 'SEWAGE CRISIS' FROM LOCAL BEACHDuring his visit to San Diego last month Zeldin vowed to bring an end to the issue as Californians run out of patience with the emergency The Americans on our side of the boundary who have been dealing with this for decades are out of patience Zeldin mentioned at a Tuesday press conference in San Diego There's no way that we are going to stand before the people of California and ask them to have more patience and just bear with all of us as we go through the next or or years of being stuck in feet of raw sewage and not getting anywhere So we are all out of patience he continued There's a very limited opportunity We're in good faith both on the American side and also on the Mexican side what's being communicated by the new Mexican president is an intense desire to fully resolve this situation