Environmental protection is a binational priority: Ken Salazar

 

Tijuana, January 11. “ Protecting the environment where we live is just a home, so for the United States, that will continue to be a priority,” said U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, addressing environmentalists' concerns that these issues will be lost in the noise of the electoral process in both countries during his visit to Baja California.

Salazar participated in the laying of the cornerstone for the reconstruction of the San Antonio de los Buenos Wastewater Treatment Plant in Tijuana, which receives 25 percent of the municipality's wastewater and has not been operating properly for a decade.

The U.S. government is particularly interested in this issue because Tijuana's wastewater has been reaching California's shores for more than 10 years.

Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, one of California's coastal cities hardest hit by coastal pollution, said, "We have an emergency situation. Our beaches have been closed every day for the past year and this year."