The federal government awarded Veolia Water West Operating Services Inc. a $27.29 million sole-source contract to continue operating the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, a critical wastewater treatment plant at the U.S.-Mexico border playing a key role in the ongoing Tijuana River pollution and sewage crisis.
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The contract, awarded March 31, runs through March 31, 2027, with a two-month option period extending through May 31, 2027, to allow for transition to a future contractor if needed.
The U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, which oversees the plant, directed the award to Veolia without a competitive bid process after canceling a prior solicitation. According to a formal Determination and Findings document prepared by USIBWC, the previous solicitation was scrapped due to technical deficiencies, ambiguous requirements and the discovery of an undisclosed organizational conflict of interest.
“The USIBWC is focused on its mission of protecting Americans from exposure to Mexican sewage and achieving a 100 percent solution to the Tijuana River pollution crisis,” USIBWC spokesman Frank Fisher said in a statement. “The current action is a 12-month bridge contract extension with Veolia; we intend to award the longer-term contract through a competitive process.”
Officials did not elaborate on the technical deficiencies, ambiguous requirements or the nature of the conflict of interest that led to the prior solicitation’s cancellation.
The plant’s treatment capacity was recently expanded from 25 million to 35 million gallons per day. Congress has allocated over $600 million to IBWC for further expansion and modernization that would eventually bring capacity to 50 million gallons per day, according to Mayra Jimenez, Veolia’s communications and community relations manager for the West Region.
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The contract renewal comes amid active litigation against the company. Imperial Beach homeowners filed a class-action lawsuit in September 2024 seeking more than $300 million in damages, alleging Veolia’s failure to address plant malfunctions has degraded property values and restricted access to local shorelines.
In 2025, the Coronado Unified School District separately sued Veolia and former plant manager Mark Wippler, alleging the company’s “negligent and reckless operation” of the facility allowed repeated discharges of untreated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.
Veolia disputed the legal claims, calling them “a counterproductive distraction” and accusing plaintiff attorneys of mischaracterizing the company’s authority and role at the plant.
“We strongly reject these accusations and will fight them vigorously because they are baseless,” Jimenez said.
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