Let’s call this what it is: a scandal of national proportions that’s been quietly festering under the noses of bureaucrats, environmental regulators, and political cowards for decades.
San Diego, the proud training ground of America’s elite Navy SEALs, has become a dumping ground—literally—for toxic waste spilling over the border from Mexico. And now, the human cost is undeniable.
Former Navy SEAL Rob Sweetman didn’t mince words. Standing on a hill near the Tijuana River estuary, he looked down on a sewage slick so noxious he called it “disgusting.”
But this isn’t just about an unpleasant smell—this is about raw sewage flowing straight into U.S. waters where SEAL candidates train. Yes, the same SEALs tasked with defending the nation are being trained in filth, exposed to disease, and left to suffer illnesses linked to polluted water that smells like death and foams like poison.
Over 1,100 gastrointestinal illnesses in just five years. That’s what a Department of Defense watchdog report uncovered about SEAL training sites in San Diego. And that’s just the cases reported. Navy vet Jeff Gum, who nearly died during his grueling Hell Week due to exposure-induced illness, called it what it is: a national security crisis. He’s not exaggerating. Half the SEAL teams are stationed in San Diego. If they’re sick, compromised, or forced to leave service early, our national defense suffers. Period.
But don’t expect the usual suspects to sound the alarm. Too many bureaucrats and politicians have been too busy virtue signaling on climate change and plastic straws while ignoring a literal river of feces dumping into American territory.
And what has California’s leadership done? Nothing but issue excuses. Meanwhile, 44 billion gallons of contaminated water surged along the Golden State coast in 2023 alone—the most since the turn of the century.
This isn’t a partisan issue. It’s a matter of basic national competence. But in true fashion, it’s the Trump administration that’s once again cleaning up a mess the career bureaucrats would rather keep hidden under layers of red tape and diplomatic dancing.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is set to visit San Diego this week—finally bringing federal urgency to a crisis that state officials have ignored for decades. Zeldin’s mission? To put an end to the slow-motion disaster that’s been poisoning America’s finest. It’s too late for those already affected, but maybe—maybe—it’s not too late for those still training in these waters.
This is our modern-day Camp Lejeune, as veteran advocate Kate Monroe rightly points out. And make no mistake: if this continues, it’s going to cost this nation billions—not just in compensation and lawsuits, but in the lives and careers of warriors we cannot afford to lose.
