GoGreenNation news

NSW government says state’s biodiversity ‘in crisis’ as it pledges first steps to reverse decline

News Feed

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

The New South Wales government says the state’s biodiversity is in crisis and must be put on a path to recovery to reverse the decline of beloved species and ecosystems.The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has released the government’s “first steps” in responding to a major review of the state’s nature laws, saying “we cannot ignore the truth: biodiversity in NSW is in crisis”.The Minns government is proposing to develop a new nature strategy that would be enshrined in law and set targets for conservation and restoration, including landscape restoration, species recovery and addressing threats to nature.Sharpe said the government would also amend state laws by the end of this year to fulfil its promise to reform NSW’s biodiversity offsets scheme after a 2021 Guardian Australia investigation uncovered serious problems that triggered several inquiries.“Our goal must be to leave nature better off than we have found it,” she said.Sharpe said the response, which fully or partially accepts 49 out of 58 recommendations from the 2023 review led by the former treasury secretary Ken Henry, set out immediate priorities and “is the start of concerted action, reform, investment”.Henry’s review found the state’s environment laws would not succeed without substantial changes and warned half of the species under threat in NSW were on course to become extinct within the next 100 years.After the review was released last year, he called for the natural environment to be made the top priority in government policy and legislation.Henry told Guardian Australia on Tuesday that the government’s response was a “serious attempt” to tackle the problems identified in his review and demonstrated it understood the scale of the nature crisis.But he said many of the government’s proposed actions would take a long time to deliver and they stopped short of putting laws that protected and enhanced nature ahead of other land management concerns.“They’re not giving it statutory primacy,” he said. “They seem to want to tackle it in a different way.”The Minns government’s response proposes several measures to be implemented over time, including: Introducing legislation next year to enshrine a new state nature strategy with conservation and restoration targets; Amending laws this year to reform the state’s offsets scheme; Developing maps that identify current and future areas of high biodiversity value to give “clear guidance” on where environmental impacts should be avoided; Reviewing other pieces of legislation that affect biodiversity to improve outcomes for the environment. Among the proposed measures intended to fix the state’s environmental offsets scheme, the government is proposing that the current standard that calls for “no net loss” to the environment be transitioned to a requirement that the scheme delivers a “net positive”.The government said it was “committed to offsets being a genuine last resort” and it would introduce a new statutory standard requiring developers to demonstrate how they had genuinely avoided and minimised impacts to biodiversity, particularly for species and ecosystems at risk of irreversible impacts.Endangered woodland on the Cumberland Plain in western Sydney. Photograph: Carly Earl/The GuardianThe steps developers had taken to avoid and minimise impacts would be made public on a new register.The government is proposing to act on recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry by removing the ability for mining companies to count future rehabilitation of mine sites towards their offset requirements. It is also proposing to limit the circumstances in which developers can pay into a fund to transfer their offsetting obligations to the Biodiversity Conservation Trust.The report does not set out the specific steps the government will take to stop the state’s high rates of land clearing.Before the 2023 state election, Sharpe said NSW’s system of environment protections needed more “red lines” to protect ecosystems that were suffering.The government’s response does not identify any proposed “no go zones” for development but Sharpe said proposed new biodiversity maps were intended to give clear guidance on where areas of high environmental value were located and where impacts should be avoided.She said the government’s proposal to enshrine targets for nature conservation was a similar approach to the one it had taken with recent climate change legislation.“In my view, this leads to the biodiversity crisis being treated as a similar crisis to climate change,” Sharpe said.In response to a separate review of the native vegetation provisions of the Local Land Services Act, the government is proposing to strengthen some environmental protections and oversight.But it is proposing a larger independent review of biodiversity protections on rural land in response to high rates of land clearing.

Government will also overhaul state laws after Guardian Australia uncovered serious problems with biodiversity offsets schemeGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales government says the state’s biodiversity is in crisis and must be put on a path to recovery to reverse the decline of beloved species and ecosystems.The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has released the government’s “first steps” in responding to a major review of the state’s nature laws, saying “we cannot ignore the truth: biodiversity in NSW is in crisis”.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundupIntroducing legislation next year to enshrine a new state nature strategy with conservation and restoration targets;Amending laws this year to reform the state’s offsets scheme;Developing maps that identify current and future areas of high biodiversity value to give “clear guidance” on where environmental impacts should be avoided;Reviewing other pieces of legislation that affect biodiversity to improve outcomes for the environment. Continue reading...

The New South Wales government says the state’s biodiversity is in crisis and must be put on a path to recovery to reverse the decline of beloved species and ecosystems.

The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, has released the government’s “first steps” in responding to a major review of the state’s nature laws, saying “we cannot ignore the truth: biodiversity in NSW is in crisis”.

The Minns government is proposing to develop a new nature strategy that would be enshrined in law and set targets for conservation and restoration, including landscape restoration, species recovery and addressing threats to nature.

Sharpe said the government would also amend state laws by the end of this year to fulfil its promise to reform NSW’s biodiversity offsets scheme after a 2021 Guardian Australia investigation uncovered serious problems that triggered several inquiries.

“Our goal must be to leave nature better off than we have found it,” she said.

Sharpe said the response, which fully or partially accepts 49 out of 58 recommendations from the 2023 review led by the former treasury secretary Ken Henry, set out immediate priorities and “is the start of concerted action, reform, investment”.

Henry’s review found the state’s environment laws would not succeed without substantial changes and warned half of the species under threat in NSW were on course to become extinct within the next 100 years.

After the review was released last year, he called for the natural environment to be made the top priority in government policy and legislation.

Henry told Guardian Australia on Tuesday that the government’s response was a “serious attempt” to tackle the problems identified in his review and demonstrated it understood the scale of the nature crisis.

But he said many of the government’s proposed actions would take a long time to deliver and they stopped short of putting laws that protected and enhanced nature ahead of other land management concerns.

“They’re not giving it statutory primacy,” he said. “They seem to want to tackle it in a different way.”

The Minns government’s response proposes several measures to be implemented over time, including:

Introducing legislation next year to enshrine a new state nature strategy with conservation and restoration targets;
Amending laws this year to reform the state’s offsets scheme;
Developing maps that identify current and future areas of high biodiversity value to give “clear guidance” on where environmental impacts should be avoided;
Reviewing other pieces of legislation that affect biodiversity to improve outcomes for the environment.

Among the proposed measures intended to fix the state’s environmental offsets scheme, the government is proposing that the current standard that calls for “no net loss” to the environment be transitioned to a requirement that the scheme delivers a “net positive”.

The government said it was “committed to offsets being a genuine last resort” and it would introduce a new statutory standard requiring developers to demonstrate how they had genuinely avoided and minimised impacts to biodiversity, particularly for species and ecosystems at risk of irreversible impacts.

Endangered woodland on the Cumberland Plain in western Sydney. Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian

The steps developers had taken to avoid and minimise impacts would be made public on a new register.

The government is proposing to act on recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry by removing the ability for mining companies to count future rehabilitation of mine sites towards their offset requirements. It is also proposing to limit the circumstances in which developers can pay into a fund to transfer their offsetting obligations to the Biodiversity Conservation Trust.

The report does not set out the specific steps the government will take to stop the state’s high rates of land clearing.

Before the 2023 state election, Sharpe said NSW’s system of environment protections needed more “red lines” to protect ecosystems that were suffering.

The government’s response does not identify any proposed “no go zones” for development but Sharpe said proposed new biodiversity maps were intended to give clear guidance on where areas of high environmental value were located and where impacts should be avoided.

She said the government’s proposal to enshrine targets for nature conservation was a similar approach to the one it had taken with recent climate change legislation.

“In my view, this leads to the biodiversity crisis being treated as a similar crisis to climate change,” Sharpe said.

In response to a separate review of the native vegetation provisions of the Local Land Services Act, the government is proposing to strengthen some environmental protections and oversight.

But it is proposing a larger independent review of biodiversity protections on rural land in response to high rates of land clearing.

Read the full story here.

Photos courtesy of

Related News

The Great Mediterranean Drain: How 70% of Its Water Vanished in a Geological Crisis

Recent studies reveal that the Messinian Salinity Crisis led to the Mediterranean Sea becoming a vast salt basin through a two-phase evaporation process, causing massive sea-level drops and widespread environmental impacts, including volcanic eruptions and global climate changes. The Mediterranean Sea underwent a dramatic transformation during the Messinian Salinity Crisis, a major geological event that [...]

Crisis

Climate

ICE Unveils Biogas Plan to Combat Costa Rica’s Growing Waste Management Crisis

The Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) is taking bold steps to address the country’s mounting landfill crisis with an innovative biogas initiative that could transform waste management across the nation. Turning Waste into Energy: ICE’s Vision for Sustainable Solutions ICE’s executive president, Marco Acuña, revealed plans for a new biogas production strategy that will convert organic waste into renewable energy. The project, aimed at implementation within five to six years, could provide a much-needed solution to Costa Rica’s waste management challenges. The initiative comes at a critical time, as Costa Rica grapples with depleting sanitary landfills and ineffective recycling practices. According to a 2016 Comptroller General report, merely 1% of the country’s waste undergoes recycling, highlighting the urgent need for alternative solutions. ICE’s experience with biogas already shows promise. Their existing facility at La Uruca’s EBI plant successfully generates 140 kilowatts of energy from landfill gas, which is fed directly into the national grid. The new project aims to expand on this success, targeting the 53% of Costa Rica’s waste that consists of organic matter. Acuña also points to additional opportunities, suggesting that non-recyclable waste could serve as industrial fuel, further maximizing resource utilization and supporting sustainable waste management practices. The initiative aligns with the Ministry of Health’s “Waste to Energy” plan, which envisions regional waste-to-energy centers throughout Costa Rica. However, despite ICE initiating an eligibility process for such projects in May last year, no proposals have been submitted, revealing ongoing challenges with municipal engagement and infrastructure development. As the Greater Metropolitan Area faces immediate waste management pressures, authorities emphasize the need for quick action. While ICE’s biogas project offers a promising medium-term solution, immediate steps are crucial to protect public health and prevent environmental degradation. The post ICE Unveils Biogas Plan to Combat Costa Rica’s Growing Waste Management Crisis appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

Crisis

Waste

Sustainable

Why won’t PJM let batteries and clean power bolster a stressed-out grid?

PJM, the largest electric grid operator in the U.S., has a major problem — old, dirty power plants are closing down faster than new clean energy resources can replace them. This mounting grid crisis is already driving up electricity costs for the 65 million people living in PJM’s territory, which stretches from the mid-Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes. By the end of the decade, the situation could become so dire that it threatens the reliability of PJM’s grid. The blame falls in large part on PJM’s worst-in-the-nation grid-interconnection backlog. New energy projects looking to come online in its region face yearslong wait times before they’re even considered. To make matters worse, energy companies and climate advocates say PJM is dragging its feet on one straightforward way to work around this logjam. Existing wind and solar farms and fossil-fired power plants often have more grid capacity than they actually need during many hours of the day or seasons of the year. Developers could add batteries or other new energy capacity next to these power plants and make use of that surplus grid space. It wouldn’t eliminate the trouble altogether, but it would make a serious dent, clean energy developers say. Federal regulators have repeatedly directed grid operators to allow power plant owners to pursue such additions under what’s called “surplus interconnection service” (SIS) rules. But PJM has made it next to impossible for power suppliers to do so, even as most other U.S. grid operators have abided. Critics say PJM’s refusal to follow suit is particularly frustrating: By barring this faster approach, PJM is making its bad grid situation worse. That’s why those critics are asking for federal intervention. This summer, clean energy industry groups and environmental advocates asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to deny the interconnection reform plan submitted by PJM, which was required by last year’s FERC Order 2023. Among their objections to PJM’s plan is its refusal to change the rules it now uses to deny these fast-track additions. In July, renewable energy and battery developer EDP Renewables (EDPR) filed a complaint with FERC asking it to overturn PJM’s denial of its plan to add solar to a wind farm in Indiana. It’s just one of the failed surplus interconnection proposals the developer has brought to the grid operator. Trade groups Advanced Energy United, the American Clean Power Association, and the Solar Energy Industries Association; the environmental group Sierra Club; and fellow clean energy developers Invenergy Solar Development North America and EDF Renewables added their support to EDRP’s complaint. “We go to PJM and say, ‘Look at this amazing deal. We already have the capacity. Our transmission system is underutilized during the periods we need it. Let’s connect this,’” David Mindham, EDPR’s director of regulatory and market affairs, said during a September webinar. “And they say no.” Getting more round-the-clock use out of the grid Mindham’s comments came during a presentation of a report from Gabel Associates, commissioned by the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) and other clean energy industry groups, detailing the potential for using this technique to help PJM meet its growing shortage of electricity generation. The focus of the presentation was on surplus interconnection service, the technical term for what is a fairly simple concept: Let energy projects use the grid interconnection capacity they already possess to its fullest potential. Many energy projects don’t use their maximum capacity all 8,760 hours of the year. So-called “peaker” plants — fossil-gas-fired power plants that are turned on only during times of high electricity demand — may run just 250 to 1,500 hours per year, for example. And wind and solar farms generate their full capacity only when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining. That leaves plenty of hours when these projects aren’t using their maximum allowed grid capacity — their “interconnection service,” in FERC parlance. Surplus interconnection service can fill in those gaps. Mike Borgatti, Gabel Associates’ senior vice president of wholesale power and markets services and co-author of the report, offered the example of a 100-megawatt solar farm that could add batteries to store power during the day and send to the grid after the sun goes down. “At the end of the day, you would end up with 100 megawatts of energy that could be supplied by any combination of solar and storage,” he said. “It could be 100 percent storage at some points in time; it could be 100 percent solar at others. It could be, say, 50 megawatts of solar and 50 megawatts of storage. As long as whatever combination of outputs never exceeds 100 megawatts, we’re good to go.” FERC made clear in 2018’s Order 845 and in last year’s Order 2023 that grid operators must enable surplus interconnection service, Borgatti added. And PJM needs to “accelerate new entry from high-capacity-value resources, and we need to do it very quickly.” PJM has about 180 gigawatts of total generation capacity. Of that, 43 to 58 gigawatts are expected to shut down by 2030, according to a March report from its independent market monitor. Meanwhile, electricity demand is forecast to rise at a rapid rate, with an estimated 40 gigawatts of new load expected by 2030. Despite these pressures, new power plant construction has stalled. About 160 gigawatts’ worth of projects that are trying to connect to the grid — almost all of them wind, solar, or batteries — are stuck in the interconnection queue. Borgatti estimated that without changes, only about 6.3 gigawatts of “stuff we need” can be built by 2030. That’s not enough to make up for PJM’s growing electricity demand and shrinking power plant fleet. The upshot, he said, is that PJM faces an impending “resource adequacy shortfall” — a gap between forecasted energy supply and peak demand — of nearly 4 gigawatts by 2029, he said. The underlying barrier is that PJM hasn’t expanded its transmission grid quickly enough to accommodate more energy resources, Borgatti said. That’s a problem bedeviling grid operators across the country, and one FERC has ordered them to solve. But building new transmission lines still takes years to up to a decade. In the face of this grid-capacity challenge, SIS projects are a neat workaround, Borgatti said. Because they make use of previously approved grid capacity, they can undergo an expedited study process that circumvents the standard interconnection queue. That accelerated timeline takes only 270 days, meaning that these projects could go from proposal to construction “within less than a year, theoretically.” What’s more, batteries added to solar and wind farms can store power when the grid doesn’t need it and discharge it when it’s in short supply — something that’s already happening regularly in California and Texas. Batteries can also help meet fast-rising demand from corporate energy buyers like data center developers for clean energy that matches up with their power usage on an hour-by-hour basis, EDPR’s Mindham said.

Crisis

Energy

Exxon Mobil says advanced recycling is the answer to plastic waste. But is it really?

Exxon Mobil has touted 'advanced recycling' as a groundbreaking technology that will turn the tide in our plastic crisis. California says it's a lie.

When California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta filed suit against Exxon Mobil and accused the oil giant of misleading the public about the effectiveness of plastic recycling, many of the allegations surrounded the company’s marketing of a process called “advanced recycling.”In recent years — as longstanding efforts to recycle plastics have faltered — Exxon Mobil has touted advanced recycling as a groundbreaking technology that will turn the tide on the plastic crisis. Company officials and petrochemical trade organizations have used the phrase in radio spots, TV interviews and a variety of marketing material online. In a 2021 blog post, Exxon Mobil president of product solutions Karen McKee painted a particularly promising picture. “Imagine your discarded yogurt containers being transformed into medical equipment for your next doctor’s appointment, and then into the dashboard of your next fuel-efficient car.”But despite its seemingly eco-friendly name, the attorney general’s lawsuit denounced advanced recycling as a “public relations stunt” that largely involves superheating plastics to convert them into fuel. At Exxon Mobil’s only “advanced recycling” facility in Baytown, Texas, only 8% of plastic is remade into new material, while the remaining 92% is processed into fuel that is later burned. Bonta’s lawsuit seeks a court order to prohibit the company from describing the practice as “advanced recycling,” arguing the vast majority of plastic is destroyed. Many environmental advocates and policy experts lauded the legal action as a major step toward ending greenwashing by Exxon Mobil — the world’s largest producer of single-use plastic polymer.“There’s nothing ‘advanced’ about it,” said Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics. “It’s a deception. It’s been a deception for half a century. If they were going to be able to recycle plastic polymer back into virgin resin, they would have done it already. But they are using the same technology we’ve had since the Industrial Revolution. It’s a coke oven, a blast furnace.”As more research has emerged on the limitations of plastics recycling, the revelations have shaken the public’s confidence about what to put in their blue, curbside recycling bins. “The public perception of what’s recyclable with respect to plastic doesn’t match reality,” said Daniel Coffee, a UCLA researcher who studied plastic waste in Los Angeles County. “Recycling, for so long, was thought of as this perfectly crafted solution to single-use plastics. And the clearest answer as to why, is that the public was told so. They were told so, in large part, by an industry-backed misinformation campaign.”Advanced recycling, which is also called chemical recycling, is an umbrella term that typically involves heating or dissolving plastic waste to create fuel, chemicals and waxes — a fraction of which can be used to remake plastic. The most common techniques yield only 1% to 14% of the plastic waste, according to a 2023 study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Exxon Mobil has largely used reclaimed plastic for fuel production while ramping up its virgin plastic production, according to Bonta.“You’re essentially drawing oil up, turning it into plastic, and then having to burn more oil to turn that plastic back into oil, which you then burn,” Coffee said.Bonta alleges Exxon Mobil has had a patent for this technology since 1978, and the company is falsely rebranding it as “new” and “advanced.” The practice was tested in the 1990s, but did not continue beyond the trial phase. It recently reemerged after the company learned that the term “advanced recycling” resonated with members of the public at a time of increasing concern over increasing amounts of plastic waste. In December 2022, it announced the start of an advanced recycling program. In a 2023 interview with a Houston television station, an Exxon Mobil representative touted the Baytown facility.“When [customers] buy a plastic product off the shelf, they want to know that it’s sustainable,” the Exxon Mobil employee said. “This is a huge game change for the industry — but I would say society in general.”In response to Bonta’s lawsuit, Exxon Mobil said its Baytown facility has processed 60 million pounds of plastic into “usable raw materials” that otherwise would go to landfills. Experts say that figure pales in comparison with the company’s 31.9 billion-pound annual production capacity.Nationwide, the Baytown plant is one of about five facilities that break plastics down by exposing them to high heat, according to the Last Beach Cleanup, a nonprofit working on plastic pollution. California has adopted some of the nation’s most strict laws to reduce single-use plastics. Perhaps the most consequential, SB 54, requires the state to sell 25% less single-use plastic packaging and foodware. It also prohibits waste incineration and similar practices from being counted as recycling. Because most plastics cannot be recycled, state officials have struggled to figure out how to dispose of this material. California had previously exported much of its plastic waste to China. But China has banned the import of most foreign plastics, nearly eliminating the market for used plastic.In 2021, about 5.4 million tons of plastic waste was taken to California landfills, according to the latest state disposal data. That same year, more than 625,000 tons of trash was sent to so-called “transformation” facilities, where waste is incinerated, or burned in the absence of oxygen (a process called pyrolysis). California does not track data on how much of this incinerated waste was plastic, according to CalRecycle, the state agency that oversees waste management. The state also doesn’t keep detailed information on how much plastic waste is exported to other states and how they process it.“California’s vision for a waste-free future is focused on reducing waste, reuse, and intentionally designing products that flow back into the system for efficient collection and remanufacturing into new products,” said Maria West, a spokesperson for CalRecycle.If the state is earnest in its pledge to eliminate waste, environmental advocates say the state needs to phase out single-use plastics.“You can’t do anything with plastic but landfill it or burn it,” said Williams. “You can try to repurpose it, but you’ll never compete with virgin stock. And even then, you have to shred it, make it into pellets and feed it into a blast furnace. How is that good for the climate? How is that better than coal?” Newsletter Toward a more sustainable California Get Boiling Point, our newsletter exploring climate change, energy and the environment, and become part of the conversation — and the solution. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

Crisis

Technology

Waste

Some in this California beach town insist the Tijuana River is poisoning them. Officials disagree

The Tijuana River has been polluted for decades, but in recent years, south San Diego residents say the smell — and their respiratory illnesses — has gotten worse.

IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. — The Tijuana River should not be flowing this time of year. But throughout the dry season, it has — delivering millions of gallons a day of an unnatural mix of water, neon green sewage and industrial waste from Tijuana through the city of Imperial Beach to the Pacific Ocean. This 4.4-square-mile beach town of 27,000 largely working-class and Latino residents, sitting just south of San Diego, is appealingly affordable. But it also bears the brunt of Tijuana’s population boom.Its beaches just reopened last weekend, after having been closed for more than 1,000 days because of ocean bacteria levels that are a hundred times higher than safe amounts. The stench of rotting eggs after dark is overwhelming for south San Diego residents, keeping some awake all night. A family with a small child sits on the sand next to the Imperial Beach Pier. In the distance a yellow sign warns beachgoers to stay out of the water. (Jireh Deng / Los Angeles Times) Pollution in the river has been an entrenched environmental crisis for decades, with all sides pointing fingers at one another. Residents blame politicians for failing to find a solution. Local politicians blame Congress for not funding improvements in the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, which processes raw sewage from Tijuana. The federal government blames Mexico for lax sewage regulations. The International Boundary and Water Commission says it’s not its job to collect the wastewater from unknown sources that flows into the Tijuana River. Complicating matters further: Researchers and county officials are sharply split on whether the stench is simply a nuisance or a danger to public health. Some help is on the way, potentially. Mexico’s new wastewater treatment plant is set to open this month, and there are plans to double the capacity of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, although that project will take five years. Ángel Granados points at the pollution in the Tijuana River under Hollister Street. (Jireh Deng / Los Angeles Times) Meanwhile, residents and the mayor of Imperial Beach say they are plagued with unexplained and more acute illnesses. A persistent cough that wouldn’t disappear. Wheezing in the chest. Migraines and headaches. Stuffy sinuses with an acidic burn in the eyes. Nausea. Diarrhea. And they worry about worse effects on their children. Jeffrey Jackson, who’s lived along the ocean in Imperial Beach for 25 years, said the air “is getting me sick ... it’s stuff in my lungs.” He’s had to clear his lungs in the middle of the night constantly, and his daughter caught pneumonia twice this summer. “I have toilet paper underneath my pillow so I can spit.”Drs. Matt and Kimberly Dickson knew something was awry as well. As residents of Imperial Beach, they were used to treating surfers at the South Bay Urgent Care Center sickened by E. coli and other bacteria after defying beach advisories to stay out of the water. But after Hurricane Hillary and the atmospheric rivers of February, they noticed more patients arriving at their doors with similar symptoms — diarrhea, viral infections, vomiting, stomachaches — who hadn’t touched the contaminated water. Ramon Chairez crouches above a pipe channeling fluids from the Tijuana River, which should be dry during this time of year. (Jireh Deng / Los Angeles Times) The Dicksons tried to raise alarms to San Diego County’s public health officials, but ultimately the county decided there was no direct correlation between the flood of sewage that poured into the river and the ailments that residents developed.Frustrated, the Dicksons contend that the public health response has been slow because people are just becoming violently ill, not dying. “I feel like the patients down here are being treated like the canary in the coal mine,” Matt Dickson said. County health officials didn’t respond to a request for comment about health concerns in the Tijuana River Valley. Kimberly Prather, the director of the Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Geography, was not so quick to dismiss the doctors’ concerns. Her previous research had shown that bacterial microbes could become airborne pathogens in sea spray. Now she wanted to prove that the polluted water was also polluting the air. David Jarma, a field researcher from the University of Texas at Austin, takes dust samples from a patio in Imperial Beach. (Jireh Deng / Los Angeles Times) In August, Prather joined forces with other researchers, including San Diego State University’s Paula Granados, an expert in cross-border pollution, to perform one of the largest studies ever jointly conducted on the Tijuana River Valley. The researchers started pulling samples from the air, river mouth, groundwater, soil and even the green beans grown in a local community garden to check for pollutants after they found concerning levels of hydrogen sulfide — upward of 30 parts per million — and hydrogen cyanide near the Tijuana River. (The Occupational Safety and Health Administration limits exposure for industrial workers to 20 parts per million.)But the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District conducted its own studies, which found less pollution — 0 to 16 parts per million of hydrogen sulfide in Imperial Beach, along with safe levels of hydrogen cyanide. Supervisor Nora Vargas’ office said in an email that “there is no imminent threat to public health from hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulfide.” Nevertheless, her office also passed out 400 free air purifiers to community members in the South Bay to help alleviate the smell.The EPA, the California Department of Public Health and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office have all said that the hydrogen sulfide is a nuisance but doesn’t pose any immediate risk for residents. “It’s not a situation where you’re accumulating a bunch of the toxin into your body and it’s causing damages to your organs,” said Dr. Cyrus Rangan, a medical toxicologist with the California Department of Public Health, though he did concede that even temporary symptoms over long periods of time could degrade a resident’s quality of life. “These problems generally are not permanent problems. They can become persistent problems if you continue to experience the odors.” Eric Biggs walks his horse on Saturn Boulevard where it passes over the Tijuana River, a spot frequently traversed by local residents. “Look, take a deep breath” is written in chalk on the asphalt, with an arrow pointing to the riverbed. (Jireh Deng / Los Angeles Times) Prather argued that county and state officials fail to understand the severity of the situation, saying, “Just based on gases alone, this is a toxic pit.”Her research still needs to be peer reviewed, but Prather said she’s confident her work is on the verge of finding proof that bacteria in the water are becoming aerosolized and making people sick. The results should also confirm a direct correlation between the increase in sewage flow in the Tijuana River and higher rates of airborne hydrogen sulfide and health complaints, she said. There have been very few studies on the long-term effects of hydrogen sulfide exposure in human populations because testing on people would be unethical. Rangan said that there aren’t data yet on whether pathogens in the Tijuana River can be aerosolized and affect residents but that the state health department is working with doctors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to do more research. Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre wears a mask while standing on Hollister Street, where the sewage underneath the bridge has turned the water black. Aguirre went to the emergency room fearing she was having a heart attack and was told she had lung inflammation. (Jireh Deng / Los Angeles Times) Meanwhile, the Dicksons have been joined by other doctors who are concerned as well. Prather’s work has identified a hot spot around Saturn Boulevard where more than half a dozen schools are located in a 1.5-mile radius around the river. San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air has called on public officials to take precautionary measures to protect children, who breathe more rapidly, have a larger lung-to-body-mass ratio and would be more vulnerable to hydrogen sulfide poisoning. Hydrogen sulfide exposure has neurological effects as well, including memory loss, fatigue and loss of balance. More than half a dozen schools are within 1.5 miles of a hotspot for noxious odors emanating from the Tijuana River. (Courtesy of Kimberly Prather) Perla Rosales, an Imperial Beach resident who works as an executive assistant for California Quality Drywall Services, has two children, 11 and 4 years old, in the South Bay Union School District. Her younger child, Azariel, has been suffering from a persistent cough at school. “The school called me to ask if he had asthma because he was coughing a lot,” Rosales said. During last week’s heat wave, SBUSD informed parents that all outdoor activities were canceled, physical education classes and recess were moved indoors, and air scrubbers were on all day. “[His] teacher told me she had a lot of students sick in the last weeks,” she added. Rosales lived in Tijuana three years ago with her family but had never smelled the river like this before. Knowing that her son has been exposed to hydrogen sulfide has her worried about his cough “because he usually is a healthy boy.”Over the years, residents have seen the ecosystem change into an unrecognizable landscape — once clear ponds stocked with fish are now gray cesspools filled with white foam that is visible even in Google’s satellite images. Surfers have seen dead birds and occasionally dead dolphins washed ashore. Residents still fish every day off the Imperial Beach pier for food, unaware that heavy metals have been found in the ocean. A satellite image from Google shows white foam next to Saturn Boulevard where it passes over the Tijuana River. (Google) Marvel Harrison, who sits on Imperial Beach’s Tijuana River Pollution Task Force, lives on the beach next to the Imperial Beach Pier with her husband. She has become the reluctant lead plaintiff of a new class-action lawsuit against Veolia Water North America, the private company running the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant. Filed on Jan. 6, the lawsuit claims that Veolia’s failure to address pollution at the beach depreciated the value of residents’ properties and prevented them from enjoying the ocean. The suit seeks $300 million in damages, but Harrison said the goal is to bring attention to the environmental crisis, not to collect a huge check. (Jireh Deng / Los Angeles Times) Harrison — who saved up enough money with her husband, a former pediatrician, to build a $3-million home — understands she’s part of a wealthy minority in her town. “The people of privilege are the ones that are using their voice in a respectful way to give voice to people who haven’t had it,” the 67-year-old former counseling psychologist said. “It’s not like anybody can just get up and move to a different part of town or buy a house or buy themselves an AC unit,” Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre said. “These are working families. There’s many of them, paycheck to paycheck, so that’s why we need help.”In 2021, thousands of Los Angeles County residents living near the Dominguez Channel received vouchers to relocate after a warehouse fire caused a hydrogen sulfide stink. Assemblymember David Alvarez (D-San Diego) is one of the local representatives who’s written to Newsom twice, asking for a state of emergency. He believe it could help with short-term solutions, like temporarily relocating his constituents.“You never recover if this happens every single day,” Alvarez said of the smell that he said has become progressively worse since his time as a San Diego City Council member. But he said the federal government has its role to play as well in cleaning up the riverbed. “This is going to require a tremendous amount of remediation, and something like a Superfund [site designation], I believe, is appropriate.” Paula Granados tests the groundwater at Gabriel Uribe’s property, where Uribe’s dogs have been throwing up and his horses have been losing weight. (Jireh Deng / Los Angeles Times) Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Reps. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego) and Scott Peters (D-San Diego) just announced a renewed effort to pass the Border Water Quality Restoration and Protection Act, which Vargas and the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein also introduced in the last two Congresses. As for the state agencies that continue to say the air is safe for residents to breathe, the Dicksons encourage public officials to stay overnight and experience what the people in Imperial Beach experience.“It’s not just a nuisance smell. It’s not just an odor. Your eyes burn, hurts to breathe, you get a sore throat. You’re vomiting,” Kimberly Dickson said. “If [Newsom] were to come down here and spend one night at the home of one of our residents that lived by the river that’s exposed to hydrogen sulfide for 24 hours, he probably would declare a state of emergency.”

Crisis

Education

Food

Suggested Viewing

The Story of Plastic

A searing expose uncovering the ugly truth behind the global plastic pollution crisis. Striking footage shot over three continents illustrates the ongoing catastrophe: fields full of garbage, veritable mountains of trash; rivers and seas clogged with waste; and skies choked with poisons from plastic production and recycling processes with no end in sight. Original animations, interviews with experts and activists, and never-before-filmed scenes reveal the disastrous consequences of the plastic flood around the world – and the global movement rising up in response.

Chemicals

Pollution

Crisis

Sounding the Alarm ~ America's Climate Crisis

"It's really hard being a fire family. Every day it's getting worse." -Brett, wife of Marin County Battalion Chief in California.Every day, Americans who live close to the land and sea face the dangers of climate change—from a firefighter in California, to a beekeeper in Arizona, to a climate refugee losing her home in Florida. The changing climate affects our food systems, water and way of life. These American families are in the trenches sacrificing everything while facing depression, PTSD, and suicide—collateral damage of a crisis unchecked. Award-winning filmmaker, Peter Goetz, captures America's faces and voices, shot in 2020 leading up to the presidential election. Goetz and the Biden campaign made history, producing the first national climate spot to run during a presidential election. But this film dives deeper into the American climate crisis to explore the lives of the people who are sounding the alarm, worried about their grandchildren’s future, asking, "If not us, then who?" This is a story of the resilience, perseverance, and ingenuity of the American people. Ever hopeful, they collectively take on a common enemy. As the young, Navajo solar visionary Brett Issac insists, "We've got to turn this train around before it's too late."

Climate

Crisis

Government

Allergy Alert: Paranoia in Our Immune System

From peanuts and pollen to cats and dust mites, allergy rates are soaring dramatically all over the globe, with inoffensive substances triggering life-threatening physical responses. Experts are predicting that by 2050, one in two will suffer from an allergy. Why are our immune systems overreacting in this way? To stem the tide of the epidemic, scientists are investigating the interface between genetics, environmental factors and our modern lifestyle, and developing revolutionary new approaches to prevention and treatment.

Science

Crisis

Health

The Kodiak Queen

Richard Branson had a decorated WWII warship that survived Pearl Harbor taken to the British Virgin Islands to be turned into an artificial reef and dive site to inspire a generation of ocean lovers. But the project became a part of something much bigger when Hurricane Irma struck the Caribbean and Florida Keys on September 6, 2017. Irma caused unimaginable destruction and devastated thousands of lives. In this haunting film, the award-winning Sorrenti and Academy Award winner Kate Winslet describe the momentous task of restoring the British Virgin Islands.

Water

Crisis

Conservation

Resilience

In 1998, a vast power grid serving 5 million people in Canada was destroyed by an ice storm. Twenty years later researchers of that disaster are developing a new kind of resilient power grid. Based in part on the book The Grid and the Village, the film explores how to protect grids and the people they serve from war, terrorist attack, and extreme weather.

Energy

Climate

Crisis

Cookies help us run our site more efficiently.

GoGreenNation news

NSW government says state’s biodiversity ‘in crisis’ as it pledges first steps to reverse decline

Related News

The Great Mediterranean Drain: How 70% of Its Water Vanished in a Geological Crisis

ICE Unveils Biogas Plan to Combat Costa Rica’s Growing Waste Management Crisis

Why won’t PJM let batteries and clean power bolster a stressed-out grid?

Exxon Mobil says advanced recycling is the answer to plastic waste. But is it really?

Some in this California beach town insist the Tijuana River is poisoning them. Officials disagree

Suggested Viewing

The Story of Plastic

Sounding the Alarm ~ America's Climate Crisis

Allergy Alert: Paranoia in Our Immune System

The Kodiak Queen

Resilience

Join us to forge
a sustainable future

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Cookies help us run our site more efficiently.

NSW government says state’s biodiversity ‘in crisis’ as it pledges first steps to reverse decline

Related News

The Great Mediterranean Drain: How 70% of Its Water Vanished in a Geological Crisis

ICE Unveils Biogas Plan to Combat Costa Rica’s Growing Waste Management Crisis

Why won’t PJM let batteries and clean power bolster a stressed-out grid?

Exxon Mobil says advanced recycling is the answer to plastic waste. But is it really?

Some in this California beach town insist the Tijuana River is poisoning them. Officials disagree

Suggested Viewing

The Story of Plastic

Sounding the Alarm ~ America's Climate Crisis

Allergy Alert: Paranoia in Our Immune System

The Kodiak Queen

Resilience

Join us to forgea sustainable future

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Join us to forge
a sustainable future