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News GAO Says Bajagua is Bad Deal for U.S. Taxpayers
Today, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress, issued a report on sewage treatment at the San Diego/Tijuana border today.
by Serge Dedina
01/05/2008:// The GAO report analyzed the feasibility, cost-effectiveness and timeliness of upgrading the International Wastewater Treatment Plant (IWTP) in San Ysidro and compared the project side by side to the Bajagua project. Border beaches (Imperial Beach, Coronado, Baja Malibu and Playas de Tijuana) are among the most polluted in North American after it rains.
Bajagua is attempting to receive a sole source no-bid contract to build a sewage treatment plant in eastern Tijuana. The GAO report estimates that the cost of upgrading the existing International Wastewater Treatment Plant (IWTP) in San Ysidro rather than building the Bajagua project would save U.S. taxpayers $208 million dollars.
"This report shows that Bajagua has less certainty and more cost," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Thursday. "This has been put off for years. The time has come to move forward with expanding the (San Ysidro) plant."
Since the late 1990's, nearly half of Tijuana's collected sewage has been treated at the International Wastewater Treatment Plant (IWTP) in San Ysidro, yet the effluent discharged off Imperial Beach has failed to meet the requirements set by the Clean Water Act.
"Upgrading the IWTP is the most efficient way to ensure that the sewage effluent discharged daily off I.B. meets water quality standards," said Serge Dedina, Executive Director of Wildcoast, an Imperial Beach-based organization that had called for a federal investigation into the Bajagua project. "Bajagua has blocked all efforts to resolve the international border sewage crisis in a cost effective and comprehensive manner."
In 2007, Senator Diane Feinstein requested the GAO study the proposed alternatives to upgrade the IWTP in San Ysidro to advanced treatment, as required by the Clean Water Act. Sen. Feinstein, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, put $66 million in the 2008 budget to upgrade the IWTP, despite objections from Bajagua, who have blocked alternative treatment options.
Bajagua, a San Marcos company is hoping to receive a sole-source no bid contract from the International Boundary and Water Commission. The company's bid for a sole-source no bid contract was the subject of investigate reports by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO). Last year the controversial company was the subject of front-page investigative article in the Wall Street Journal.
According to Dedina, "For over 10 years we've been held hostage while the Bajagua project floundered, since everyone said there was no viable alternative. Meanwhile, beach water quality in South San Diego County continues to worsen. Just this year, Imperial Beach has been closed for 48 days. This is a huge environmental and public health problem that needs to be addressed now. Finally we have a funded alternative with the political will to implement it. This is a huge clean water victory for San Diego."
[Arthurian legends back in Tintagel to campaign for proper sewage treatment]
[North East Surfing]
Cornishman Sam Bleakley has failed to join his British team-mate Ben Skinner in the third round of the Oxbow World Longboard Tour event in France
Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) campaigners have today welcomed Hilary Benn, Secretary Of State for the Environment decision to refuse South West Water permission to carry on dumping raw sewage at Tintagel and Bossiney
SAS campaigners are today delighted that Northumbrian Water’s application to turn off Ultra-Violet disinfection sewage treatment from October to April at Marske-by-the-Sea has been rejected by the Environment Agency (EA)
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