The mayor of Nogales has proclaimed a state of emergency as local, state and federal officials battle to prevent a pipe carrying millions of gallons of sewage from Mexico into the U.S. from bursting and causing a major environmental hazard for Southern Arizona.
Heavy rains fell in Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Sonora, Friday, flooding the underground drainage system that connects the two sister cities. More than 116 feet of the concrete floor was ripped off and carried one-half mile downstream, said Nogales Mayor Ignacio Barraza.
It is a stretch that protects the main trunk line of a 30-inch pipe that carries 12-14 million gallons of raw sewage a day from Nogales, Sonora, to Nogales, Ariz., on its way to the Nogales International Waste Water Treatment Plant, about 8.5 miles north of the border in Rio Rico, he said.
"If it becomes damaged, we could see 12-14 million of gallons of raw sewage spill into the Santa Cruz River and work its way north," said Barraza, who issued the proclamation of emergency Saturday. "It would be an environmental nightmare. Not only for our region, but moving its way north."
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Nearly 100 people from a host of local, state and federal agencies have been working since the weekend trying to reinforce the washed- out floor with sandbags and a combination of quick-forming cement and concrete, Barraza said.
As of Monday evening, though, the concrete/cement mix was having trouble setting in such wet conditions, said Sally Spener, spokeswoman for the United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, which sent two engineers from its headquarters in El Paso and devoted staffing from a local office in Nogales.
"It's a difficult situation and they are working under difficult conditions," Spener said.
Officials are tensely watching the skies and hoping that no more rain falls.
"If we continue to get the type of monsoon rains that came through on Friday over the course of the week, there is a very real potential for a further breach of the canal system," Barraza said.
No significant rain is expected overnight in the area, said Craig Shoemaker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. There is a 30 percent chance of rain for today and a 20 percent chance for Wednesday, he said.
The area dodged a bullet Monday when storms hit about 15 miles south of the international border, Shoemaker said. Rains that fall within 5-10 miles south of the border are the ones that fill the drainage system, he said.
Even if it stays dry through the week, danger continues to loom. The monsoon usually lasts until mid-September and tropical storms can sometimes cause rainfall in Sonora, Shoemaker said.
In addition to worries about the sewage pipe breaking, officials say that heavy rains could wipe out more stretches of concrete in the tunnel, create dams and cause flooding in Nogales, Barraza said.
As far as the sewage, officials are prepared to treat it with chlorine if the pipe bursts, Spener said. City officials, meanwhile, are prepared to evacuate affected residents, if necessary, Barraza said. As of Monday evening, everything was under control and no residents or businesses had been forced to evacuate, he said.
The city of Nogales has received assistance from Santa Cruz, Pima and Cochise counties, the Arizona Department of Corrections, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the International Boundary and Water Commission.
The city is paying the bill now but will likely ask for state or federal emergency funds later, Barraza said. But that's the least of their worries.
"This is not about money right now," Barraza said. "We are going to spend every resource we have to protect our citizens … We would rather be accused of being overly cautious than not being cautious enough."
The city of Nogales has estimated the damage to be about $10 million. Replacing concrete or rebuilding stretches could be costly — some of the tunnel system was built in the 1930s, Barraza said.
"It's aging, ailing infrastructure," he said.
The floods didn't damage the border fencing in Nogales and haven't altered the work of the U.S. Border Patrol, said Sean King, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman.
The Dennis DeConcini port of entry in downtown Nogales is also operating normally, said Brian Levin, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman. The agency is aware of the situation and in touch with the mayor's office but so far, nobody has informed them of any risk to their operations, he said.
