Tijuana River Sewage Causes Health Issues in Southern California

In Southern California, tens of thousands of residents near the Tijuana River are enduring a persistent public health crisis as raw sewage from Mexico flows across the border, releasing toxic gases that infiltrate homes and trigger widespread illnesses. The 120-mile river, originating in Tijuana and emptying into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, has carried more than 100 billion gallons of untreated wastewater, industrial chemicals, and trash since 2018, according to the International Boundary and Water Commission.

Seventy-two-year-old Steve Egger, a lifelong resident of the Tijuana River Valley, described the rotten-egg odor of hydrogen sulfide that seeps into his home most nights, despite a hospital-grade air filtration system. "Most nights we breathe in a horrible stench," Egger said. "It's awful." He and his wife frequently wake with headaches, congestion, and coughing, symptoms echoed by many in the largely low-income Latino communities along the river.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists hydrogen sulfide exposure risks including nausea, shortness of breath, skin and eye irritation, tremors, delirium, and in severe cases, death. The gas can erode nasal...