Border Over Troubled Waters: The New River, Its Pollution and Apathy

The New River is less of an open sewer than ever before, but its still susceptible to being Mexicali’s toilet.

Slaughterhouse waste, industrial discard and garbage are still flowing into the New River.

After millions of U.S. EPA dollars and efforts in a waste water treatment plant in Mexicali, they had to admit they had little control over how the Mexicans would operate the plant. Prior, they had painted a rosy picture to me. It wasn’t until I visited the plant and obtained the most recent water quality data that they changed their tone.

Calexico Residents Blame Cancer and Ailments on New River

The river’s stench is undeniable. Most of the 15 or so residents I spoke with attributed some kind of ailment to the river-cancer, headaches, asthma. But they seemed genuine happy there. Yes, the rent is cheap in that part of town but if they sincerely believe the river is harming them, why do they stay. Then it occurred to me that all of the residents I spoke with were Spanish-speaking only. Contrary to general belief, this border town is not dominated by Spanish speakers. It has a sizable bilingual and professional demographic. These residents  on the west side of town were all recent arrivals from Mexico. They are accustomed to living with environmental hazards. I wanted to develop this part of the story. But my deadline was near and my editor wanted the story.