Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin visited San Diego on Earth Day to address the flow of sewage from Mexico’s Tijuana River across the border into the United States.

Zeldin visited San Diego to meet with local and Mexican officials to discuss the flow of sewage from the Mexican river, which has polluted American beaches and even hindered the training of Navy SEALs, some of whom have gotten sick as a result of the pollution.

“There, for decades, has been raw sewage that’s been traveling across the border, and Americans are very concerned with regards to beach closures, degradation of the Tijuana River Valley, and concerns of public health, air quality,” Zeldin charged. The EPA administrator explained that his visit to San Diego is intended to ensure “that the path forward is one of max collaboration and extreme urgency to end a crisis that should have ended a long time ago.”

“Mexico needs to fulfill their part in cleaning up the contamination that they caused. They cannot view this as a U.S. problem just because their contamination reached U.S. soil,” Zeldin asserted at a press conference in San Diego. “They’re going to have to commit to that final cleanup” in addition to completing infrastructure projects to prevent future flows of sewage into the United States, the EPA administrator explained.

The EPA administrator, who also toured an international wastewater treatment plant, explained that Mexican officials are willing to collaborate with the United States to fix the crisis.

“It was clear with the way that the Mexican environmental secretary approached the conversation yesterday evening that she wants to have a strong, collaborative relationship,” Zeldin added. “I welcome that collaboration.” Zeldin went on to add that he’d work with Mexican officials to craft a comprehensive solution to end the crisis.

“What’s been communicated by the new Mexican president is an intense desire to fully resolve the situation,” Zeldin noted.

Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about Zeldin’s visit to the southern border to examine the flow of sewage from Mexico. Leavitt said that “Zeldin met with his Mexican counterpart to discuss steps that Mexico needs to take to ensure the water entering the United States is clean and safe.”

What does the White House have planned for Earth Day? @PressSec tells @MaryMargOlohan:

“[President Trump] has always maintained he wants America to have the cleanest air and the cleanest water, and we want to do what’s right for our environment and for our earth.” pic.twitter.com/nrNinIXu8A

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) April 22, 2025

She added that President Trump “has always maintained he wants America to have the cleanest air and the cleanest water, and we want to do what’s right for our environment and for our earth.”