Signs warn people of contaminated ocean water in Imperial Beach on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The water in the area has been contaminated for years from the Tijuana River sewage. (K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS)
TNS
Coronado lifeguards use leak-proof dry suits for open water rescues. Imperial Beach lifeguards decontaminate in showers after leaving the ocean. And both have ditched jet skis for the protection offered by boats.
These aren’t new equipment standards.
They are tools the two South County, California, departments have rolled out independently to protect themselves from daily exposure to polluted, sewage-tainted waters. No safety standards exist for lifeguards who come into contact with contaminated water while trying to save lives. That’s because no other agency in the country experiences this issue, field experts say.
Years of disrepair and underinvestment in treatment plants on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border have led to billions of gallons of partially treated wastewater flowing from Tijuana to South San Diego shorelines for years. Some work is underway to get the infrastructure fixed. But the lagged response has led to public health complications, beach closures, economic distress and challenging rescues for frontline workers like lifeguards and Border Patrol agents.
“We can’t wait years for the federal government to get enough money and do all this construction,” said Coronado Lifeguard Capt. Sean Carey. “We just need some protections now because this is the lifeguard’s cancer.”
Establishing safety standards is one way to start, said Carey. He is spearheading an effort to make that happen.
In the meantime, Imperial Beach and Coronado are doing what they can to continue rescues while minimizing contact with polluted waters.
Taking matters into their own hands
Lifeguarding in South County is changing as it adjusts to worsening cross-border pollution.
In Imperial Beach, where shorelines have been closed for the last two years, lifeguards are busier than ever – but not in the water, said Imperial Beach Marine Safety Capt. Jason Lindquist.
“You’re like a land lifeguard … until you gotta get in (the water),” he said. “We’re not swimming anymore. We’re making more public contacts, educational enforcement (about beach water contamination).”
Pollution has also affected how these emergency responders stay prepared. They train in a Coronado swimming pool or San Diego Bay, which “we used to think was gross. That’s now the clean water,” Lindquist said.
When they must conduct rescues or patrol from open water, Imperial Beach and Coronado lifeguards use boats that both departments recently acquired to replace the use of jet skis or swimming as much as possible.
Imperial Beach patrol trucks now have rinse kits installed on their roof racks “to wash us off before we get back in the truck” after getting in the water, Lindquist said.
In Coronado, where only some shorelines have been impacted by sewage pollution, lifeguards now have dry suits. Soon, they’ll start donning helmets with face shields “to protect (their faces) from getting splashed” and radio headsets that fully cover their ears, said Carey.
These measures are necessary, they said, because it is unclear exactly what health effects the Tijuana sewage crisis has had on lifeguards.
Hans Fernan, 51, did many rescues in polluted waters before retiring as an Imperial Beach lifeguard 10 years ago. To this day, he said, “I constantly have sinus issues, ear issues and lung issues.”
“I can only correlate this to the ocean because I’ve swam in that ocean all the time,” he said. “I don’t smoke, I’m not a big drinker, I run Ironman. … I shouldn’t have this constant issue of my sinuses and this raspy voice and constantly spitting up like lung butter – phlegm in my lungs.”
He was among the many Imperial Beach lifeguards who filled out “contaminated ocean exposure reports,” which city officials said are preserved in employees’ medical records. The forms were implemented decades ago to start a record of when lifeguards came into contact with contaminated waters, city officials said. Lifeguards still fill them out, sometimes even when not in contact with ocean water, according to officials. Last year, more than 100 reports were filed and 11 so far this year, Lindquist said. Lifeguards have reported gastrointestinal issues, headaches, nausea, diarrhea and rashes.
Carey believes much more can be done to protect lifeguards.
An effort underway
The Coronado captain represents San Diego County as an agency certification officer for the U.S. Lifesaving Association, or USLA. It is a national nonprofit that establishes and maintains standards for open water lifeguards. Its California chapter has a Professional Standards Committee, which Carey chairs.
“We’re working on one standard right now,” he said. “That standard is, how do we protect lifeguards who are exposed to contaminated water during the course of their duty?”
“We looked into (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines for wastewater treatment plant employees, regulations that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration may have, which, come to find out, they don’t for lifeguards,” he added.
An OSHA spokesperson said it “has not tracked the issue” of lifeguards’ exposure to contaminated waters.
The USLA, which has developed an open water lifesaving manual, also does not address the issue of contaminated water, said Chris Brewster. He is chair of the USLA National Certification Committee and a retired San Diego lifeguard chief.
Carey said the committee is drafting safety standards that would include the following:
-During training, educate lifeguards about what’s in the water and what water-quality test results mean;
-Offer immunization based on what lifeguards may be exposed to;
-Provide personal protective equipment such as dry suits, earplugs, helmets and gloves;
-Opt for patrol boats or waterborne drones to avoid getting in the water during rescues;
-Local governments could issue citations to people who fail to heed a health order, resulting in lifeguards having to conduct a rescue ;
-Lifeguards should receive specialty pay and medical care when exposed.
The goal is to have guidelines established and adopted regionally, and eventually nationally.
“They have to be detailed and specific enough to address this issue, but ambiguous enough to be accepted nationally,” Carey said.
Brewster said standards for lifeguards exposed to cross-border pollution could arise in preparation for the next edition of the USLA’s manual.
“(B)ut as a national organization, we have to consider the breadth of applicability,” he said via email. “This is not an issue that affects other ocean lifeguards of which I am aware.”
“In the big picture, I would note that lifeguards are in a unique position among the safety services in that it’s impractical to fully protect them from exposure to the environmental conditions in which they work,” he added. “There are certainly measures that can be taken to minimize risk and those become increasingly appropriate when contamination is chronic, as in south San Diego County.”
Matt Wilson, who teaches Imperial Beach’s Junior Lifeguard program, said standards are necessary, but must be carefully thought out.
“I don’t believe in citing people for getting in the water,” he said. “I’m wary of that, but I am for there being standards where (lifeguards) can communicate that under certain circumstances, ‘We will not go in. We’ll throw something in instead.'”
In addition to purchasing new equipment, the cities of Coronado and Imperial Beach are taking other steps to support lifeguards.
In Coronado, lifeguards have access to Company Nurse, a business that triages workplace injuries when they occur. Lindquist said he is looking into bringing the service to Imperial Beach.
“You call, talk to a real nurse about what you did and what you’ve been exposed to and they help you,” he said. “That versus waiting to incubate something in you and then go to (Human Resources) and get authorization to go to (a medical clinic).”
Imperial Beach City Manager Tyler Foltz said the city is conducting a classification and compensation study for its Marine Safety Department to assess equipment and staffing needs and compensation related to exposure. Results are expected to come before the City Council later this year.
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This story was originally published April 28, 2024, 5:43 PM.