IV Press - River cleanup bill is signed
By SILVIO J. PANTA
Staff Writer
Assemblyman Manuel Perez, D-Coachella, praised Monday the signing of a bill that calls for a state body to draw up a plan geared toward the eventual clean-up of the New River. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed three bills, including AB 1079 that initiates the New River Improvement Project and requires the California Mexico Border Relations Council to develop a “strategic plan” to guide the cleanup on both sides of the border.
About $800,000 will be added to about $4 million in federal matching funds for the cleanup effort.
“Naturally, I’m quite pleased by the three signatures,” Perez said in a prepared statement. “These are very serious times, and I’ve tried to focus my efforts on legislation that speaks to our local situation.”
The situation Perez is referring to is threat to public health the New River poses to Calexico residents and other communities in Imperial County.
Since the 1940s the New River has been known for its extremely high concentration of fecal coliform and bacteria. Current levels of bacteria levels in the New River are so high, according to the press statement, that the waterway is believed to carry pathogens that can cause tuberculosis, cholera, hepatitis, typhoid and other illnesses.
The bill authorizes the Mexico Border Relations Council to appoint and oversee a technical advisory committee that would advise the council on studies and on actions in carrying out the clean-up.
This marks the first time a bill whose aim is cleaning up the polluted waterway has been passed, Perez said.
“This is a landmark legislation for us,” he said.
>> Staff Writer Silvio J. Panta can be reached at 337-3442 or at spanta@ivpressonline.com
