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California-Baja California Regional Workgroup
Projects
California-Baja California Water
The construction of a new wastewater treatment plant, force-main and upgraded pump station in Mexicali has been completed and operation has begun. This $30 million project, which used $13 million in EPA funds, treats the immediate wastewater needs of 250,000 residents. The plant eliminates discharge of 15 million gallons per day of untreated wastewater into the New River and reduces bacteria and nutrient loadings in the New River and the Salton Sea.
The Centro de Investigacion en Alimentacion y Desarrollo A.C. is monitoring water quality in the Rio Hardy River in Mexicali. This project continues to monitor the current conditions of the river and measure any effects that the discharge from the new Las Arenitas wastewater treatment plant may have.
The Pala Band of Mission Indians, in partnership with Aqualink, CUNA, JA JAN Coalition and the Baja California Intertribal Council, completed an EPA-funded assessment of the drinking water for seven indigenous communities in Baja California. This assessment revealed significant drinking water contamination in six of the seven indigenous communities. As a result, Border 2012 provided $66,000 for drinking water infrastructure improvements for two of the indigenous communities, and Mexico committed to providing $900,000 for water and other infrastructure improvements for 102 homes in Baja California indigenous communities. In addition, the Pala Band of Mission Indians received Border 2012 resources to fund training and capacity building for the operation and maintenance of two new water treatment systems in the Baja California communities of San Jose de la Zorra and San Antonio Necua.
$100,000 has recently been added to these ongoing projects that will improve water infrastructure for five indigenous communities in the Baja California Border Region including San Antonio Necua, San Jose de la Zorra, and Santa Catarina. Drinking water distribution lines have been constructed and operation and maintenance training has been conducted for workers at San Antonio Necua and San Jose de la Zorra.
CESPTE, Tecate’s utility provider, will receive $54,500 from Border 2012 and will leverage $101,000 from the North American Development Bank and Fundacion La Puerta to support an artificial wetland demonstration project, down-river from the CESPTE-operated wastewater treatment plant near Rincon, Tecate. The wetland will serve as a demonstration for ecosystem management and conservation, and will reduce the levels of suspended solids and biochemical oxygen demand in the municipal wastewater treatment plant’s effluent.
The City of Mexicali received Border 2012 funds to conduct a solid waste collection assessment, which will help the City determine how best to reduce the amount of trash that enters the New River through illegal dumping. The New River is 303(d) listed as impaired for trash. This assessment has been completed and results are pending.
A comprehensive coastal water quality monitoring and outreach program is being developed to better gauge the beach water quality in the Tijuana area and improve public notification when these beaches are unsafe for swimming. This program will also measure changes in coastal water quality that may result from wastewater infrastructure projects in Tijuana.
California-Baja California Air
The San Diego Air Pollution Control District has retrofitted fifty diesel trucks from Tijuana with diesel oxidation catalysts and spiracle crankcase filtration systems. The result is a 25% reduction of particulate matter (PM10) emissions. Successful use of controls on Mexican heavy-duty diesel vehicles in the border region will provide an important model for Mexico as it moves to implement cleaner diesel projects.
Three real-time air quality websites have been established: one for Imperial County, one for San Diego County and one for the Baja California border cities of Tijuana, Rosarito, Tecate, and Mexicali. These websites provide real-time air quality data for particulate matter and ozone and provide health information to the public.
Imperial County 
San Diego County
Baja California
Through the North American Development Bank, more than 900 miles of road in Mexicali, Tecate, Tijuana, Rosarito, and Ensenada will be paved in order to control sources of dust in border areas. This project will reduce particulates in urban areas, thus reducing the risk of asthma especially in children who live in the border region. Once completed, the multiphase project is estimated to achieve over 70,000 tons per year of PM10 reductions in Tijuana and Mexicali alone.
Construction is complete on three new environmental brick kilns to replace three “traditional” brick kilns in Tecate. The new kilns use an innovative, dome-top kiln, developed by New Mexico State University. Compared to the old kilns, the new design uses half the fuel and cuts emissions of nitrogen oxide by 80 percent. Three to five additional brick kilns are scheduled to be constructed in FY 08/09 in Tecate or Mexicali.
California-Baja California Land
The removal of 1.2 million tires from the Centinela tire pile near Mexicali, the second of the three largest tire piles along the border, has been completed. The tires were processed and used as fuel in cement kilns in Baja California and Sonora. This cleanup follows the INNOR tire pile cleanup last year of 420,000 tires. The cleanup has reduced land contamination and public health risks in the Mexicali area.
Metales y Derivados is an abandoned lead recovery facility in Tijuana, which recovered lead from vehicle batteries and other materials containing lead. This site was closed in 1994 by PROFEPA and SEMARNAT due to substandard hazardous waste management. Since 2004 when cleanup was initiated, 2,000 tons of hazardous waste have been removed and 50 tons of lead smelter process equipment have been recycled in Mexico.
A capping remedy design plan for the Metales y Derivados toxic waste site in Tijuana has been approved and the construction phase has begun. The construction phase is being implemented by Baja California’s SIDUE (Secretary for Urban Development and Environment) with the continued support from the Metales Technical Workgroup which includes a variety of stakeholders including state, local, and federal representatives, members of the local community, and EPA. A consultant has been made available to provide technical assistance to the community during the construction phase and a full time engineer in the field is facilitating the exchange of information between the community and the government about progress being made and assisting in resolving any issues from the community.
Currently the Baja California indigenous communities have no solid waste management plan for household or hazardous waste within their communities. The normal method for waste removal is incineration in open pits within only a few meters of homes and schools. Currently all trash, including plastic, rubber, aluminum and hazardous waste containers are burned along with regular non-toxic household trash. The air emissions from the toxins pose a public health threat as well as the great potential for groundwater/drinking water contamination from the unlined open pits. This project will install a basin transfer station in at least two of the communities and provide for a small vehicle to transport recyclables and non-organic waste to municipal landfills.
California-Baja California Health
For the fourth year, EPA Region 9 participated in various events during Binational Border Health Week. These events included the inaugural ceremony and the Binational Policy Forum on Migration and Health. Key stakeholders and policymakers convened to discuss immigrants’ health challenges and to explore collaborative strategies to improve the health and well-being of this population. More than 400 high-level representatives from federal, state, and community entities of participating countries took part in this event.
In addition to the inaugural activities, EPA attended health fairs in the border region and shared information on how best to prevent children's exposure to lead and chemicals commonly found in homes. EPA also participated in a farm worker event in Calexico geared towards agricultural workers crossing into the US from Mexico. The purpose of that event was to help workers know how best to protect themselves from pesticide exposure, and to assist workers in identifying and seeking treatment for pesticide-related illnesses. As a result of our participation at various outreach events and follow-up discussions with health care providers, we plan to host a series of health care provider workshops on the recognition of pesticide illnesses.
The California Department of Health Services is partnering with Federal and State agencies in both countries to replicate a pesticide collection and disposal event that will remove old or unwanted pesticides from both sides of border, focusing on Imperial County and Mexicali and will look at ways to develop long-term and sustainable capacity for additional collection events. This effort is modeled after the successful event held in 2006 where approximately 102,000 lbs. and 480 gallons of waste pesticides from Yuma, AZ and San Luis, Sonora were collected and disposed.
California-Baja California Emergency Prepardness and Response
A main objective of the Border 2012 program is that by 2008 all Border sister cities have joint contingency plans in place and operating. This was realized May 2005 with the signing of the Binational Plan and Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Mexicali and Imperial County. All six Region 9 sister city pairs now have joint contingency plans in place and operating.
Binational task forces for both Baja California sister cities meet quarterly to discuss implementation of the sister city plans including exercises such as the Tijuana/San Diego tabletop simulation on September 29, 2005 of a response to an overturned tanker and ammonia spill at a Customs Border crossing.
The Baja California Emergency Management Institute (EMI) is a public/private binational partnership for sustainable emergency preparedness in the U.S./Mexico border region. The EMI is a key tool for achieving the binational Border 2012 goal to reduce risk of public exposure to hazardous materials resulting from an accidental or intentional release. The first-ever EMI in Tijuana trained over 100 government and industry emergency responders and is developing self-sustainability through fees and industry contributions.
California-Baja California Environmental Stewardship
In an effort to increase the number of industries along the U.S./Mexico border implementing voluntary compliance and/or self audits, Environmental Management Systems (EMS) are being developed. EMSs increase environmental compliance and promote innovations to save energy, realize cost savings, and reduce pollution. Since 2006, nearly 40 small and medium-sized companies in Mexicali have developed an Environmental Management System (EMS) for their respective facility. These companies participated in voluntary six-month training programs sponsored by Border 2012 and supported by a local industry group (CANACINTRA) and state and federal regulatory agencies in Mexico.
Through an EPA grant to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, a number of port-of-entry inspectors carry out operations at the Otay Mesa port-of-entry. This program serves to guard against illegal imports of wastes and products such as hazardous waste and ozone-depleting chemicals and aids Customs and Border Protection inspectors to inspect imports in order to protect us from weapons, drugs and other contraband. Technical and regulatory assistance is provided in person, by phone and by e-mail. In addition, manifest information is kept daily on their inspections.