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Cross-Border Sewage Line At Risk
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Letter to State Department
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona’s senators are warning that a raw sewage pipeline running across the border from Mexico is deteriorating and must be repaired. The question is, who is going to pay for it?
Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake sent a letter to the State Department on Tuesday saying the pipeline must be repaired soon. Nogales, Ariz., processes about 10 million gallons of sewage from Nogales, Mexico every day. The International Water and Boundary Commission, IWBC, has said the city of Nogales, Ariz. should pay half the $31 million needed to repair it.
Nogales Mayor Arturo Garino disagrees. “This line comes up from Mexico, so it’s up to IWBC to take care of this issue.”
The commission has not responded to the senators' warning. Garino hopes a compromise can be reached before the monsoon rain season begin this summer and the amount of sewage heading north nearly doubles to 17 million gallons a day.
