South Bay schools cancel outdoor activities as air quality worsens in Tijuana River Valley

SAN DIEGO ( Border Report ) — Researchers conducting several studies in the Tijuana River Valley have decided to stop their work temporarily and nearby schools have suspended outdoor activities after air-quality monitoring stations detected high levels of hydrogen sulfide in the area.

Researchers have been trying to determine how contaminated the air and water have become as a result of the daily flows of raw sewage from Mexico.

Hydrogen sulfide is a toxic gas found in effluent.

According to the International Boundary and Water Commission, 40-50 million gallons of water tainted with raw sewage are flowing from south of the border into the Tijuana River Valley every day.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Dr. Kim Prather, director of the Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment at UC San Diego, wrote to members of a task force studying the affects of the sewage crisis, that she in good conscience could not “continue to put my own people at this level of risk.”

Prather is said to have also reported that her team discovered hydrogen sulfide “persistently and dramatically above the state standard throughout the night and into the early morning hours Friday.”

She then made the decision to remove researchers from both UC San Diego and San Diego State University out of the Tijuana River Valley.

Border Report reached out to Prather for comment, but emails were not returned.

Valley residents like Elizabeth Bagnas said they understood the decision to move the scientists out.

“If those were my family members I’d pull them out of here too, but for us residents over here we don’t have a choice,” Bagnas said. “It’s scary, we’re breathing this, and then we say, ‘Oh my God it stinks,’ the other night when it was really, really hot it was more than stinky, it was headache inducing.”

Bagnas and others said the stench in recent weeks has been unbearable.

It was so bad Monday morning, the South Bay School District, which has several schools within a mile of the Tijuana River Valley, issued the following notice to faculty, staff and parents:

“Due to the heat and high levels of toxins in the air from the Tijuana River Valley area and in an abundance of caution, we have issued a directive for all outdoor activities at all our schools to be limited on Monday, September 9. All physical education, recess and after-school activities will be moved indoors. Students will be instructed to remain indoors during lunch and all middle school sports will be cancelled,” wrote Amy Cooper, executive assistant to the superintendent and special projects.”

Cooper added that if the heat and toxins continue to be high, the directive will remain in effect throughout the week.

The Southwest Teachers Union, which represent teachers in the district, is instructing members to run air purifiers in their classrooms and to consider wearing facemasks.

“For the kids, and maybe the elderly, when we tell them you have to stay indoors, and watch your health that should be a flag in itself,” Bagnas said. “There’s something that needs to be done, but just saying, ‘Hey don’t go outside today,’ what are we going to do about tomorrow or the day after?”

On Monday, the congressional delegation from the San Diego area reiterated calls for an immediate federal state of emergency declaration amid recent findings showing high levels of noxious gases in south San Diego.

A state of emergency declaration from President Joe Biden or from California Gov. Gavin Newsom would release funding and offer immediate help to mitigate the sewage crisis in the Tijuana River Valley.

“We write to reiterate our request for a State of Emergency in light of new findings that alarming levels of noxious gas are emanating from the Tijuana River. Recent data has made it clear that these fumes are causing an immediate and serious threat to the health and safety of residents of South San Diego, and our community needs additional support,” wrote the lawmakers.

“Immediate action must be taken to respond to this imminent and serious threat to our communities from regular exposure to air and water toxins. A federal emergency declaration would help residents of south San Diego get access to the air purifiers and testing equipment that they need to protect themselves against this imminent threat,” the lawmakers continued. “The ongoing environmental disaster in San Diego’s South County warrants the same sense of urgency and immediate attention as any other natural or environmental disaster. Left unaddressed, a pollution crisis of this scale will continue to endanger our communities. As the delegation representing the San Diego region, we once again urge you to take action to address the ongoing crisis by proclaiming a State of Emergency.”

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