TIJUANA, Mexico -- The 10News investigation began in July of 1988 and ends on January 28, 2009.

Why did it take so long? Because it was a toxic battery recycling factory owned by a San Diegan, set up in Tijuana, recycling batteries from all over Southern California.

Can you say red tape?

Adding to the problem were the concerns for the 10,000 people who live below the battery plant, just across the Otay Mesa crossing in Mexico.

The video from our first opening shot in the investigation shows workers inhaling lead fumes from the recycle batteries. Scary stuff if you know anything about lead and what it does to the human brain.

The telling video taken by Sky10 photojournalists over the factory along with reports of a high rate of birth defects in the immediate area would keep the issue alive for years.

The Environmental Health Coalition and the residents of the community, Colonia Chilpancingo, fought for years for environmental justice—to shut down the plant and then clean the area up.

Protests, letter-writing campaigns and meetings with government officials from both sides of the border would eventually lead to US and Mexican government acknowledging their was a problem.

In 2004, an agreement was struck between the governments and the community to clean the mess up. And this clean up took place over the past five years.

Some of the toxic materials were hauled away but most of the material was buried on the site into a large hole, covered in cement. Nothing can be built on top of the cement tomb and the entire site will be monitored for potential leeching for the next ten years.

Please watch our video about the story and see the blog written about the twenty-one year effort.

To watch the video, click here.

For the I-Team Blog, clickhere.