TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The International Boundary and Water Commission recently awarded a contract for adding a liner to the final two segments of the sewage pipeline in Nogales.
Every monsoon, the city of Nogales sees flooding with raw sewage going into the streets.
“That water from the sewer, it smells bad,” said Amado Manríquez.
Manríquez is the owner of a car wash next to the Nogales wash. He said he’s been smelling the sewage smell for 35 years.
The International Outfall Interceptor, or IOI, is a pipeline that carries millions of gallons of sewage from Mexico.
“For a good portion of it, it is located underneath the Nogales Wash,” said US Secretary of International Boundary and Water Commission, Sally Spener.
“By rehabilitating this, we’re able to provide protection to the community,” added Spener.
The USIBWC is using Cured-in-Place-Pipe-Technology which means a liner is getting added to the sewage pipeline to provide stability, but City Officials say, this is just a “band-aid” solution.
“That slip line, all it is, is to prevent infiltration and exfiltration of water coming out of the slip line or from the line itself. It doesn’t increase the capacity; it doesn’t make it bigger,” said City of Nogales Mayor, Arturo Garino.
Garino said he wants the commission to head to the root of the problem instead of lining the pipe.
“That sewer from the surface comes all the way from Mexico in Nogales, Sonora and that’s the failure of the pumps across the line that increases the capacity,” said Garino.
For now, the commission is working on re-lining in segments with the fifth and final phase to be complete in fall of 2024.
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Faith Abercrombie is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before coming to KGUN, Faith worked as a videographer for the Phoenix Children's Hospital Foundation and as a reporter and producer on the youth suicide documentary, "Life is..." on Arizona PBS.
Share your story ideas with Faith by emailing faith.abercrombie@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
