A serious problem at the border first highlighted by NBC 7 Investigates has caught the attention of at least one leader at the federal level.
NBC 7 Investigates traced how millions of tires aren't recycled and instead head to Mexico, crossing back into the U.S. through the Tijuana River. Click here to read the full investigation.
Former state Senator Denise Ducheny and environmental group WiLDCOAST took U.S. Rep Loretta Sanchez (D) 46th District on a tour of the region Thursday morning.
Sanchez says she wants to find a solution with federal funding.
"Right now, we really don’t have a trigger to put federal funds toward that, but it could be one of the solutions,” Sanchez said. “It’s my hope that we could find a way in which we spend a dollar ahead of time to save five (dollars) down the road.”
Experts say with El Nino, the stockpiles of tires and litter in the Tijuana River Valley will only get worse.
“Generally, the amount of sediment that we’re getting is correlated with the rainfall. When we’re getting a lot of rain, we’re getting a lot of sediment and trash. When we’re not getting a lot of rain, we’re not getting a lot of sediment and trash,” said Chris Peregrin with California State Parks.
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When it rains, that trash flows out the river channel, into the ocean and into our food supply.
It flows to the river channel from Tijuana, crossing the U.S. Mexico border and into South County.
It costs $1.8 million a year to clean and sort the trash from the sediment and export the sediment for use on construction projects.
