IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) – A new way to raise money to solve the South Bay’s ongoing wastewater crisis has been proposed by State Senator Steve Padilla: a toll in Otay Mesa in which funds would be set aside for wastewater. projects.

The proposed toll would be on Otay Mesa Lane 2 on State Route 11, located just northeast of where State Route 125 and State Route 905 connect.

Padilla was scheduled to join other community leaders for a news conference Wednesday morning. It’s unclear how long the toll might last or how much it might cost each time someone passes through it.

The proposed toll is just the latest step to address what has become an extremely costly problem in the South Bay.

Earlier this year, the federal government invested $400 million in the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant to make much-needed fixes and increase its wastewater treatment capacity.

Then a CDC study found unacceptable levels of pollutants in the air and water. In response, South Bay leaders distributed air purifiers to affected homes.

Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre said the toll road proposal has broad support since many leaders want to fund projects other than the sewage plant to combat untreated waste coming directly from the Tijuana River.

“Everyone is caught in the factory itself, but the factory is not going to solve the whole crisis,” Aguirre said. “The plant will treat 50 million gallons of wastewater per day once completed, which will take five years. But we have the entire effluent and flow of the river itself. »