SPRING VALLEY ACTIVISTS ESCALATE ACTION ON TIJUANA RIVER VALLEY CRISIS WITH PROTEST AT REP. VARGAS’ OFFICE MONDAY MORNING

East County News Service

Photo: Tijuana River Valley; CC by SA via Bing

August 8, 2020 (Spring Valley)  – The Spring Valley Cleanup Crew and a coalition of San Diego activists are uniting for a protest in front of Rep. Juan Vargas' (D-CA) office this Monday, Aug. 9 at 8:30 a.m. to demand additional funding be deployed for the Tijuana River Valley crisis.

Decades of industrial contamination allowed unchecked in the region and the local governments' reluctance to respond has deepened the crisis to outgrow the federal funding originally allotted to the issue, say the activists, who are demanding that Vargas draft legislation to double the $300 million that the Environmental Protection Agency initially granted for Tijuana River Valley infrastructure solutions.

The Spring Valley Cleanup Crew urged all of San Diego's county Supervisors and Congressional representatives to come out and show solidarity with the volunteers who have been risking their health the past several weeks. The group also reiterated its demand for the government officials to declare a state of emergency in the region to get the funding needed to properly address the issue.

“Because they haven't responded to our emails, we are going to Vargas' office Monday morning so that his entire office will have to hear us,” a press release from Spring Valley Cleanup Crew states.

"We hope that Monday’s protest will put enough pressure on Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA) to write legislation that would double the current TRV budget ensuring we have the funds to completely clean out the river and build a sewage plant which would prevent further waste from entering the river," said Victoria Abrenica, founder and president of the Spring Valley Cleanup Crew. "If it is safe enough to open a campsite along this river, it should be safe enough for our elected officials to come and volunteer with us."

The coalition of groups joining the Spring Valley Cleanup Crew for Monday's action include the San Diego chapter of the Sunrise Movement, We Stand United San Diego, Essence of Earth San Diego, Skyline Community Garden and Umoja San Diego. While the organizers all hoped that their growing presence in the river valley would be enough to spur local elected officials to accelerate their efforts to combat this crisis, they are now taking their demands to increasingly higher levels of government until the pollution is properly addressed.

The Spring Valley Cleanup Crew has been hosting river cleanups periodically throughout the summer in its initial push to galvanize our local government officials to take a more aggressive stance against the pollution in the region. As part of its demands, the group had called on District 1 Supervisor Nora Vargas and Rep. Juan Vargas (D-CA) to pressure the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to more quickly deploy the $300 million it allocated for infrastructure solutions and to pledge more funds to these efforts. 

Protesters are asked to arrive at 333 F St., Chula Vista, CA 91910 by 8:30 a.m. 

The Spring Valley Cleanup Crew was founded in 2020 to mobilize local residents in an effort to solve the environmental issues plaguing their neighborhood. While the initial vision for the group was primarily centered on the local community, founder Victoria Abrenica quickly realized her neighborhood could not thrive without addressing the social and environmental crises hurting the broader region. Now, the cleanup crew has widened its mission to include food and supply distribution to people without houses, voter registration drives and collaborations with local activist groups, along with its regular community cleanups.