People who live, work or visit communities near the Tijuana River Valley, where untreated wastewater spills over from Mexico, attribute their worsening physical and mental health issues to the cross-border pollution, a federal survey about the sewage crisis found. County public health officials on Tuesday released the findings on behalf of the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which made its online survey available from Oct. 21 through Nov. 22, 2024. More than 2,000 people from Coronado, Imperial Beach, Nestor, Otay Mesa West, San Ysidro and Silver Strand responded. The survey, called an Assessment for Chemical Exposures or ACE, follows a similar survey the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched in October, which also highlighted the severe effect of the crisis on daily life and health. The CDC’s randomized, in-person survey captured data from a much smaller sample. But both document what residents and workers have said for years: the ongoing pollution is affecting their quality of life.

Related articles:

• Times of San Diego: Majority of local residents see Tijuana River sewage as threat to air, water, health
• San Diego County: News release: Tijuana River Valley sewage community survey results complete
• CBS8 (San Diego): People near the Tijuana River Valley made changes to their daily lives, second CDC survey results show
• NBC7 (San Diego): Survey of South Bay residents finds concerns still strong about pollution crisis