The development followed a vote by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors earlier this month delaying the proposal to seek the designation, which stems from a 1980 law giving the Environmental Protection Agency jurisdiction to clean up contaminated areas.

The petition is in partnership with Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, National City Councilmember Marcus Bush and Mayor Ron Morrison, and Chair of the Air Pollution Control District Jack Shu. This is in an effort to pursue a Superfund designation from the EPA.

Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer renewed calls to designate the Tijuana River Valley as a federal superfund site on Thursday, days after the Board of Supervisors voted to delay initiate the process to participate in the program.