Earlier this month, researchers from UC San Diego and San Diego State raised the alarm about the high levels of the toxic gas in the Tijuana River Valley.
Their sensors showed "concerning" levels of hydrogen sulfide, a main component of sewer gas. County officials said the air was safe to breathe. But County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer is hoping to send some help to Imperial Beach residents. On Thursday, she sent letters to four cities in her district -- Del Mar, Encinitas, Solana Beach and Carlsbad -- asking them to help buy air filters for Imperial Beach residents.
She said she'd been contacted by Solana Beach about the idea. "(They) just stepped up and said we'd love to help out," she said, "and they said they'd been talking to the other mayors, and maybe I could help organize everyone to to do a little something."
Lawson-Remer said her office will match any money raised for the filters through a county grant. She's hoping to raise $100,000.
Del Mar Mayor David Druker said he is working with the city manager for a response, which will take a few days.
This week, part of the Imperial Beach shoreline was reopened. It's the first time in nearly three years that surfers and boogie boarders can safely enjoy the water in Imperial Beach.
That's because a pump came back online, diverting the raw sewage away from the beaches there. But puddles of raw sewage remain in the Tijuana River Valley.
Marvel Harrison, who came to Imperial Beach five years ago to retire with her husband, said she has to do a "stink test" every day to see if she can breathe.
"There's always been waves of stench," Harrison said. "But the hydrogen sulfide that's now being measured is really difficult. I've ended up with a low-grade infection that allows my lungs not to function properly."
Harrison has reactive airway disease (RAD), which has symptoms similar to asthma. Doctors don't really know what triggers RAD, but Harrison blames the putrid air for her illness.
Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre said she too has experienced health impacts.
"People have been reporting watery eyes, throat irritation, lung inflammation, coughs, sinusitis, migraines, which I personally have been suffering of chronic ones now for the better part of the last year," she said. "So it's extremely concerning."
On Thursday, Aguirre sent a letter to the White House renewing her request for an emergency declaration to address the ongoing sewage crisis.
Aguirre said an emergency declaration would allow for immediate public health measures, including household air filtration systems and real-time air and water quality monitoring.