As I write nearby, the decades-long problem of Mexico sending its raw sewage gushing into the Tijuana River and polluting the beaches of the U.S. has grown worse in the past few years with the huge population growth in Tijuana, Mexico. But now it’s affecting America’s national security interests, and s*** just got real.
The Mexican sewage problem has been a five-alarm issue since before then-Imperial Beach Mayor Brian Bilbray hopped aboard a bulldozer and created a berm to stop the river from flowing into an environmentally delicate area. When the cops came to stop him and the protest surrounding it, he said he’d be back with a permit to finish the job, but it’s 40 years later and the problem remains.
Rick writes over here that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is up to his neck in excuses from the Mexican government, though $650 million has been designated to deal with this issue.
“There’s no way that we are going to stand before the people of California and ask them to have more patience and just bear with all of us as we go through the next 10 or 20 or 30 years of being stuck in 12 feet of raw sewage and not getting anywhere,” he said. “So we are all out of patience.”
Few people had the idea that the Mexican sewage pollution problem would grow so bad that American national security would be imperiled, but here we are.
Related: EPA Demands That Mexico Stop Dumping Billions of Gallons of Sewage Into California Waters
An Inspector General’s Report entitled "Naval Special Warfare Command Should Relocate, Reschedule, or Cancel Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Candidate Water Training When Water Bacteria Levels Exceed State Safety Standards" instructed the SEAL Team commanders to move their water training away from Coronado during high contamination periods.
The IG’s report, released in February, confirmed that hundreds of Navy SEAL candidates were sickened by the contaminated water in which they were forced to train in nearby Coronado.
Navy commanders are taking the brunt of the blame for this international pollution problem because, as all military members know, s*** runs downhill.
Getting “wet and sandy” is what SEALs do. Almost all training is done on the beach or in the water. And the water is often disgusting and sick-inducing.
SEAL Team training is called BUDS, which stands for Basic Underwater Demolition. The training consists of daily ocean swims, surf passage with inflatable boats, scuba diving, long distance dives, and “hydrographic surveys.”
The Inspector General’s report noted that, “Naval Special Warfare (NSW) will have a challenge canceling or relocating 75 percent of their water training activities. Practically speaking, NSW operators would require systems or protocols that would enable them to both train and operate while managing preventable risk.”
The last five weeks of training is on San Clemente Island, but some activities occasionally have been moved to Oceanside off Camp Pendleton, but where are they supposed to go if the water’s so disgusting it makes them sick for the rest of the training?
The contamination could turn into quite a legal s***show. One veteran told Fox Digital that the sewage contamination could turn into "another Camp Lejeune" incident, referring to the contaminated drinking water drunk for decades at the North Carolina Marine Corps base and the billions paid out to Marines sickened by the water.
But it’s not just the BUDS training that’s at risk.
"We have Customs and Border Control, we have Coast Guard, we have Marines, we have EOD, all these elements of various law enforcement and military services. They're all out on this water, and some out [on] them every day," Dan'l Steward, a retired Navy SEAL Captain, told San Diego’s 10 News.
Related: Mexico's 'Nutty Chunk Sewage' Issue Is an Environmental Disaster for the U.S.
“You're asking a lot of those folks, so to simply say, 'Well, that's just the sewage problem, they'll figure it out,’” but he warned, “You need to be more proactive, cause these are the folks that are putting their lives on the line. Not just during wartime but every day.”
In 2024, after the complaints by Navy personnel rolled in, the San Diego congressional delegation warned, "We have a real crisis on our hands."
Rep. Scott Peters said, "We send them out to water that is contaminated... The leadership has been shy to say anything about the water but every SEAL you talk to who has actually trained there will tell you stories about swimming up on human feces.”
You want your Navy SEALs to take risks and exposed to all kinds of elements, but it seems to me that this problem needs to get solved. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the significant presence the Navy has in San Diego with subs, surface ships, ship repair, the SEALS, and, of course, the Marines, comprise a formidable armada to get this cleaned up.
A problem that has ruined vacations, destroyed tourism in San Diego's South Bay, and is a rolling punchline has officially taken on added seriousness that no one can ignore anymore.
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