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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1421388/posts
Clean it up [Mexico pollutes river w/disease, "migrants" swim thru it, then work in food industry]
San Diego Union Tribune ^ | June 12, 2005
Posted on 06/12/2005 8:06:02 AM PDT by John Jorsett
For decades, the open sewer known as the New River has carried a toxic brew of pollutants across the U.S.-Mexico border, through Calexico and Brawley and on to the Salton Sea, polluting everything in its path.
Despite a quarter century of promises on both sides of the border, the New River still stinks, still directly threatens the health of tens of thousands of Californians and still qualifies as perhaps the most polluted waterway in North America. In addition to the raw sewage dumped into the river in Mexicali, the New River's sludge contains heavy metals, pesticides and numerous disease-carrying pathogens, according to the California Environmental Protection Agency.
In 1979, the California Department of Health reported that water samples from the New River contained levels of intestinal bacteria 1 million times higher than that permissible for domestic rivers under standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Today, a quarter-century later, the New River is almost certainly filthier than it was then.
On any given night, scores of Mexican migrants seeking to enter the United States illegally float down the New River, hiding amid its coagulated white foam and counting on the river's noxious filth to keep the U.S. Border Patrol at bay. After their immersion in the most disease-breeding water on the continent, some of these migrants then move on to work in agriculture and food-service industries in California.
Border Patrol agents who accidentally fall into the New River while pursuing illegal migrants are immediately sent to a hospital to be disinfected.
Enough is enough. This environmental disgrace has gone on far too long.
(Excerpt) Read more at signonsandiego.com ...
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1421367/posts
Line the canal [Mexico opposes lining of American canals because its farmers depend on seepage]
San Diego Union Tribune ^ | June 12, 2005
Posted on 06/12/2005 7:31:56 AM PDT by John Jorsett
Mexico's failing efforts to stop the United States' relining of the Coachella and All-American canals just kicked into higher gear.
For years the Mexican government has criticized the relining of these water pipelines to southernmost California, including San Diego County, because it would stop the seepage of water on which Mexican farmers have long depended. That argument has sunk like a stone. The flow through those canals is part of this state's hard-won share of Colorado River water. Plugging the holes will mean water sufficient to supply 134,000 San Diego households a year. And not plugging the holes in the canals could poke great holes in the multi-government agreement, years in the making, under which San Diego now has the right to buy water it needs from the Imperial Valley. As important, the state has a way to stop exceeding – and imperiling – its draw on Colorado River water.
Mexico, moreover, has its own share of that river's water, a share it manages badly.
Long story short, neither the state nor the federal government is much interested in continuing to let U.S. water sorely needed here seep into Mexico, nor should they be. Both governments, however, have offered to assist Mexico in allocating its own water more efficiently. Mexico, alas, isn't much interested in that.
(Excerpt) Read more at signonsandiego.com ...
After their immersion in the most disease-breeding water on the continent, some of these migrants then move on to work in agriculture and food-service industries in California.
Border Patrol agents who accidentally fall into the New River while pursuing illegal migrants are immediately sent to a hospital to be disinfected.
Perhaps it's time to boycott food from California.