Trains, sewer line among the pressing
issues
By C.J. Karamargin
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
NOGALES - It was billed as a way for the man in charge of the nation's border security to get a firsthand look at the problems confronting the beleaguered Arizona-Mexico border.
But Asa Hutchinson heard as much as he saw here Friday in a meeting with the local officials who are on the front lines of border security.
Mayor Marco Lopez told Hutchinson of the threats posed by the trains that pass through this city hauling tanker cars loaded thousands of gallons of sulfuric acid, chlorine gas, ammonia nitrate and other hazardous materials. The tracks, he said, should be relocated.
Another priority is the sewer line that pumps 12 million gallons of raw sewage every day from Nogales, Sonora, north to a treatment plant in Rio Rico, Lopez said. Running through the middle of the city, the line is not monitored in Mexico, raising the prospect of "a potential disaster," the mayor said.
Wayne Shifflett, manager of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge near Sasabe, told Hutchinson that the challenges on the border aren't just urban. He said the refuge has been overrun with illegal border crossers and abandoned vehicles.
"We've been challenged on all fronts," he said. "I am not in control of the land I have."
The meeting, at the Nogales Border Patrol Station, was part of a two-day Blackhawk helicopter tour of most of Arizona's nearly 400-mile border. It included officials from Santa Cruz County, nearby cities and towns, and trade organizations.
"Whenever you look at the potential for terrorists or those people who want to do us harm, and the opportunity for them to come in through our borders, it's significant," said Hutchinson, on his first border visit since becoming head of the Bureau of Border and Transportation Security at the Department of Homeland Security.
But in the process of securing the border, the department will strive "to make sure we don't protect America in a way that stops the flow of commerce. I understand that completely," he said.
During the tour, Hutchinson said 139 new federal officers will be added this year to the Arizona border, including 70 patrol agents and 69 inspectors at ports of entry.
Congress has also approved $500 million to study technology improvements for the nation's security, he said.
Arizona will also receive $10 million as a reimbursement for security improvements, Hutchinson said, conceding that more money is needed.
Arranged by Sen. John McCain, the tour began at the San Luis port of entry in the far southwestern corner of the state and will conclude today in Bisbee. Sen. Jon Kyl and Reps. Jim Kolbe and Raúl Grijalva also participated.
McCain told local officials that Hutchinson, a former congressman from Arkansas and head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, "understands our issues."