A $400 million contract has been awarded to refurbish the International Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Tijuana River Valley.

According to IBWC, the project includes “essential rehabilitation of existing infrastructure and capacity expansion to double current treatment capacity of 25 million gallons per day (MGD) to reach 50 MGD average flow, with a peak hydraulic flow capacity of 75 MGD.”

Vargas, who represents people who live along the Tijuana River Valley, said his office gets calls every day from constituents complaining about the smell generated by the raw sewage that comes in from Mexico on a daily basis.

It’s been so bad, the County of San Diego recently spent $100,000 on air purifiers for residents in the area.

A county spokesperson said 414 households were able to get one even though almost 3,500 residents signed up to get one.