The Coronado Unified School District has joined local residents suing the operator of the South Bay International Water Treatment Plant for allegedly allowing raw sewage to be discharged into South Bay waters.
The school district alleges the pollution has adversely affected the health of students and staff.
Coronado Unified claims it has had “to expend substantial sums to combat the health issues faced by … students and faculty members” due to exposure to toxic pollutants, noxious fumes, odors and contaminated water.
The complaint, filed Monday in San Diego Superior Court, alleges students and faculty have required treatment for “headaches, lightheadedness, dizzy spells, asthma, nausea, breathing conditions, stinging eyes and other related symptoms.”
The district is seeking damages to cover medical treatment costs and future medical monitoring.
In a statement, Veolia, which was contracted by the International Boundary and Water Commission to operate, manage and maintain the plant, blamed the Mexican government for the sewage flow.
“The people of south San Diego County are deeply affected by Tijuana’s unchecked sewage crossing the border. The plaintiffs in this case would be better served if their lawyers pursued the source of the problem instead of the company trying to solve it,” the company said.
Veolia went on to call the lawsuit’s claims “misplaced,” and defended its local employees, saying they “do not deserve to be blamed for the Mexican government’s failures.”
According to the company, the South Bay plant treats up to 25 million gallons of sewage flowing from Tijuana daily and will double that capacity in the near future after Congress allocated over $600 million to repair and expand the plant.
Prior to the planned expansion, Veolia said a population boom in Tijuana also played a large role in contributing to a volume of cross-border flow that the plant wasn’t designed to handle.
Frantz Law Group represents Coronado Unified, as well as numerous South Bay residents who say they have been harmed by more than 100 billion gallons of sewage that have been discharged from Mexico into the ocean and the Tijuana River over the past five years.
James Frantz, of Frantz Law Group, said the district has had “a significant number of students falling ill on a daily basis” due to the crisis. Along with health concerns, attorneys said the pollutants have led directly to numerous beach closures, boil water notices and requirements to keep South Bay school children indoors in order to prevent exposure to contaminants.
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