Environmental Health
Grassroots Efforts Build Community Capacity To Address Harmful Health Effects of Polluted River
 eandering north from Mexicali, Mexico, into the California city of Calexico and onward to the Salton Sea, the New River – often referred to as the most polluted river in North America – has been used as a waste drainage system for generations.
Before reaching the border with California, the waterway is systematically polluted with biological waste from the growing population in Mexicali and industrial refuse from Mexican manufacturing plants, or maquiladoras, along the border. Pollutants from chemical runoff from California’s agricultural industry also contribute to the river’s toxic ecosystem. As a result, the waterway contains a sludge of nearly 100 biological contaminants, heavy metals, pesticides and disease-causing toxins that flows through the mostly immigrant and low-income communities of the Imperial Valley. Exposure to the polluted river has resulted in cases of cholera, typhoid, hepatitis and encephalitis.
 To address this environmental health hazard, a group of residents, together with state, county and city officials, formed the Calexico New River Committee (CNRC) in 2001. Part of CNRC’s mission is to provide community members, migrant workers and others who visit the region with a safe and healthy environment by eliminating exposure to the river’s toxic pollutants.
In June 2005, the organization received a three-year, $125,000 grant from TCWF to educate community members and policymakers about the river’s health hazards. CNRC’s collaborative approach to creating solutions has brought together individuals from the community, government and regional Native American tribes to review health data, monitor regulatory and legislative efforts, and work to develop and implement a shared strategy to address health and pollution issues.
According to Miguel Figueroa, CNRC’s executive director, they play an important role in educating the public at events, answering their questions, and assuring them that something is being done to help their situation.
“For residents, it’s hard because they don’t see immediate progress,” said Figueroa. “Our events give us an opportunity to explain what we are doing and show them how they can help be part of the solution.”
To that end, CNRC holds regular town hall meetings and environmental justice workshops – and conducts elementary school outreach throughout the region – to educate the community about its work and connect them with volunteer opportunities to help advance its public education campaign. The recent hiring of two promotoras has helped spread its reach into the community even further.
As a result of its community-based work, a major long-term goal emerged: the encasement of the portion of the river that flows through Calexico by rerouting it into a completely enclosed box culvert to minimize exposure to the pollution and disease. Although it will cost an estimated $100 million to complete, a recent legislative victory has helped move this project forward. In July, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 387, which authorizes the state to implement a comprehensive project within California to encase, treat and clean the New River.
“Given that Calexico has little economic and political influence, this legislative victory is a testament to CNRC’s effective grassroots efforts to harness enthusiastic support from the community and to educate representatives and legislators about the need to take effective action to reduce the health hazards posed by the New River,” said Fatima Angeles, TCWF program director.
For more information, please visit www.calexiconewriver.com
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