SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The Southwest Feed Store in the Tijuana River Valley has been in business for 50 years, and owner Matthew Mattia and his six employees are considered an invaluable resource to horse ranchers and others in the area.
But business could be taking a hit. Mattia tells Border Report that they’ve managed to survive despite horse owners taking many of their animals out of the Valley due to the neverending pollution and stench from raw sewage that, for years, has been flowing in daily from Mexico.
“A lot of horses are leaving, owners are sick of the smell, they’re sick with dealing with all the flooding and the raw sewage they see,” he said.
Mattia is now worried about recent developments in the Valley and health concerns brought up by his employees.
“They are afraid to come to work after hearing news reports of all the stuff in the air,” said Mattia, referring to potentially harmful gases in the area.
Researchers studying the effects of sewage in the Valley have pulled out of the area over health concerns after detecting high levels of hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen cyanide, a poisonous gas.
The toxic materials are said to be coming from the effluent flowing in from south of the border — upwards of 40 to 50 million gallons per day, according to the International Boundary and Water Commission.
The County of San Diego said Tuesday that its own data suggests the levels of hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen cyanide are still within allowable levels by the state of California.
But Mattia is not so sure.
“They’re saying it’s a poisonous gas, my wife doesn’t want me to come to work, a lot of my staff don’t want to come to work and I don’t blame them,” he said. “If they’re scared, they shouldn’t have to risk their lives to come to work and people should not risk their lives to come and ride their horses and take care of their pets.”
Mattia believes this will lead to even more horse owners pulling their animals out of the Tijuana River Valley, something that will hurt his business in the long run.
“It trickles down to everything, it will be slower for us, slower for the owners of the ranches where customers are boarding.”
Mattia hopes politicians figure out a way to finally stop the sewage problem while making sure the air in the valley is safe to breathe.
“We’re working-class citizens that live and work here and we shouldn’t have to worry about clean air, we can keep away from the sewage water, but we shouldn’t have to worry about the air we breathe in this country,” he said.