SOUTH BAY (KGTV) — San Diego County supervisors addressed a major pollution hotspot on Saturn Boulevard on Wednesday with a $4.75 million investment aimed at reducing harmful odors and fumes.
The odors and fumes continue to impact the respiratory health of South Bay residents, especially children.
The funding targets infrastructure improvements on Saturn Boulevard, where it intersects with the Tijuana River Valley, which has been identified as a significant source of toxic hydrogen sulfide emissions. Researchers from UC San Diego and San Diego State University reported dangerously high levels in 2024.
Dr. Vi Nguyen, a Kaiser Permanente pediatrician who treats approximately 2,000 child patients and specializes in asthma care, said the health impacts on local children are "waxing and waning" but remain a serious concern.
ABC 10News first spoke with Dr. Nguyen in September 2024 and followed through.
"I definitely feel like my own patients from San Ysidro and IB areas tend to get more sick," Nguyen said.
Most of her patients attend schools near the Saturn Boulevard hotspot, where the concentration of harmful emissions has been particularly severe. The County's targeted investment reflects officials' recognition that this location is contributing substantially to the region's toxic air quality problems.
Nguyen has been tracking the health impacts since September 2024, when she first spoke about seeing children with severe respiratory symptoms linked to the sewage crisis. While some improvements have been made, particularly among families using county-supplied air purifiers, the underlying problem persists.
"It's definitely there still. Kids are still getting sick," Nguyen said.
The pediatrician has recommended that families use air purifiers, especially at night and around infants. She noted some positive changes from these interventions.
"Anecdotally, they're feeling better because they're not smelling it as much," Nguyen said. "I feel like it's helping them decrease the amount of asthma medicine they're using."
When asked about the County's new infrastructure proposal, Nguyen expressed strong optimism about its potential impact.
"100%. If the air pollution is less they will be better," Nguyen said.
ABC 10News reached out to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin for updates at the federal level regarding the Tijuana Sewage Crisis. Zeldin's office wrote the following response:
Administrator Zeldin experienced the frustration of San Diego area residents firsthand when he visited last April. He promised them a 100% solution to this issue, and the Trump EPA and its federal partners made incredible progress in 2025 toward urgently and permanently ending this crisis, culminating in the signing of a historic new agreement (called a Minute) with Mexico last December.
Prior to that, Administrator Zeldin signed a July 2025 Memorandum of Understanding with Mexico committing both sides to permanently and urgently ending the Tijuana River sewage crisis. Since then, the Administration completed a 10 million gallon per day (MGD) expansion of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant (SBIWTP) in 100 days; shaved 12 months off construction times for previously agreed to wastewater infrastructure projects; and issued the first-ever quarterly public update on MOU implementation progress.
We will continue to closely coordination with our Mexican government counterparts to ensure both nations are faithfully implementing all agreed upon actions from last year’s agreements. We know the work isn’t done and EPA is laser-focused on delivering a 100% solution as soon as possible.
You can read more about Minute 333 here: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/trump-administration-announces-another-historic-milestone-toward-implementing-100 [epa.gov]
In regard to the Saturn Blvd. hotspot, EPA is approaching this and related problems through short- and long-term infrastructure projects that keep sewage from entering the Tijuana River in the first place. The Trump Administration’s 10 million gallon per day interim expansion of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant and Mexico’s expansion of the San Antonio de los Buenos plant in Tijuana are already reducing the amount of sewage entering the river. Additional projects and programs are in the works in the U.S. and Mexico that will zero-out sewage pollution and prevent this crisis from reoccurring down the road.
