AZMEX STINKING SPECIAL 20-9-17

AZMEX STINKING SPECIAL 20 SEP 2017

Note: Yes, another stinking special. " in an area about 300 yards"
Gracias


McSally chastises IBWC for slow response on Naco sewage spill
Sep 19, 2017 Updated 9 hrs ago (1)
Eric Petermann
Opinions Editor

http://www.myheraldreview.com/free_access/mcsally-chastises-ibwc-for-slow-response-on-naco-sewage-spill/article_249551ea-9ce8-11e7-9235-0b92cf071055.html

(Herald/Review photo by Eric Petermann) U.S. Rep. Martha McSally listens to Gerald Eberwein, left, and John Ladd at a bridge immediately west of the Naco Port of Entry. The understream flowing in a wash that connects to Greenbush Draw is raw sewage originating from a broken sewer pipe across the border in Naco, Sonora.

NACO, Ariz. — If weather conditions stay dry, it could be another week before a stream of raw sewage flowing from Naco, Sonora and threatening Bisbee's water supply is "fixed," U.S. Rep. Martha McSally said Monday.

The congresswoman appeared unhappy with the timetable, calling for more oversight of the International Boundary and Water Commission and more investment in infrastructure at the border.

"It's taking way too long. Bureaucracies can be slow, but when you're talking about impacts on a community's health, clean drinking water and other environmental impacts, they need to react much more quickly than this," she said.


A broken sewer main in Naco, Sonora, located close to the fence, west of the Naco Port of Entry, releases a fast-flowing stream of raw sewage that crosses the international border and enters a wash that drains into Greenbush Draw and onto the Ladd Family Ranch in Palominas.


Overflows of the Naco, Sonora sewage treatment system have created the stream each rainy season as far back as the mid-1980s, border property owner Gerald Eberwein said Monday. He said his past experiences working with the IBWC to try and fix the sewage flow "...have not been good."

This year, the sewage flow started in May, Eberwein said, after an early season rainfall caused an overflow. He said the stream has continued without stopping due, in part, to a broken sewer main in Naco, Sonora.


The sewage flow is ponding in an area about 300 yards from Arizona Water Company, which pumps most of Bisbee's water supply from its well and storage operation on W. Zepeda Street, just west of Willson Road.


McSally said she spoke Monday to IBWC Commissioner Edward Drusina who reported a pump has been supplied by the agency to officials in Naco, Sonora. The congresswoman said even with an additional pump and a redirected sewage flow, it could be up to a week before the stream stops flowing into the United States.

"Look, speed is very important when it comes to addressing some of these issues, for the very real health and safety concerns in a community like this," McSally said.

More support is needed for communities on the border dealing with these kinds of problems, she said. "We need greater oversight, greater preventive maintenance, infrastructure investment and immediate responses when we see breaches like this," she added.


Rancher John Ladd criticized the IBWC for failing to address the issue and pointed at the agency's handling of sewage problems in Nogales as another example of its lack of effectiveness.
"This is their jurisdiction but they have their hands full with their problems in Nogales," Ladd said.


Nogales in the U.S. and the IBWC have a longstanding dispute on costs related to repairing and replacing a sewage main that crosses the international border and feeds into a treatment plant operated by the IBWC. In July, the cross-border sewer main ruptured, causing untreated wastewater to pour into Potrero Creek, north of Nogales on the U.S side of the border. In August, Gov. Doug Ducey declared the situation a state of emergency and dispatched the Arizona National Guard to assist state and federal authorities in stopping the sewage flow. Whether the repaired main is the responsibility of the city or the IBWC continues to be in question.


Ladd said the longstanding problem with raw sewage from Naco, Sonora streaming onto his family's ranch angers him. "It's a breakdown in our federal system because we're being binational with it," Ladd said. "We end up, we're going to foot the bill. Whatever happens over there we're going to pay for it."

He said the problem has existed as long as Naco, Sonora has existed, noting that water and sewage from the community flows down hill, referring to the nearby San Jose mountain range on the Mexico side of the border. "I don't care how broke you are," Ladd said. "You're still responsible for your sewage."

He questioned the effectiveness of state and federal environmental efforts.
"We're very hypocritical in our stance where we're spending millions of dollars on clean water projects to have clean water in Arizona and then we got 50 gallons a minute of raw sewage coming in from Mexico," Ladd said.

END