INTERNACIONAL
Mexican sewage gushing into Navy SEAL training waters is US’ ‘next Camp Lejeune,’ vets warn
«Disgusting,» said Navy SEAL veteran Rob Sweetman in describing the smell and mist of Mexican sewage spewing into U.S. waters as he stood on a hill overlooking the Tijuana River estuary in California.
Sweetman, a Navy veteran who served on the SEALs for eight years, spoke to Fox News Digital to sound the alarm on a water crisis rocking the San Diego area, including where SEALs train, taking a camera with him to show viewers firsthand how the contaminated water flows into the U.S.
Just one mile away from where Sweetman spoke, SEALs and candidates train in the same water, which has sickened more than 1,000 candidates in a five-year period, per a Department of Defense watchdog report released in February.
San Diego and the surrounding area are in a clean-water crisis that has raged for decades, but it is finding revived concern from the Trump administration as SEALs and local veterans warn of a «national security crisis» that they say is on par with the Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, water crisis.
Thousands of Marines and others were sickened at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune base between 1953 and 1987 as a result of water contaminated by industrial solvents used to drink, bathe and cook at the training facilities and on-base housing.
EPA CHIEF TAKES ON MEXICAN ‘SEWAGE CRISIS’ FLOWING INTO US WATERS WHERE NAVY SEALS TRAIN
The Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) class participates in a surf passage training exercise at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in Coronado, California. (Getty Images)
Kate Monroe, a Marine Corps veteran and CEO of VetComm — which advocates for disabled veterans and those navigating the VA’s complicated health system — told Fox Digital in an April Zoom interview, «San Diego County is as big as some states. It’s giant. Millions of people live here and are breathing the air of this water. It goes well beyond the military. It’s a crisis. It’s a FEMA-level travesty, and we have just been hiding it.»
The Navy has deep roots in the San Diego area, with the United States Naval Special Warfare Command headquartered in America’s Finest City and where Navy SEAL candidates complete their arduous six-month Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.
Naval Special Warfare Center reported 1,168 cases of acute gastrointestinal illnesses among SEAL candidates between January 2019 and May 2023 alone. (Jeff Gum)
The sewage problem flowing from neighboring Mexico into the U.S. has percolated in San Diego for years.
But the water crisis hit crisis level when it was reported in 2024 that 44 billion gallons of contaminated water imbued with raw sewage was released along the California coast in 2023, the most on record since at least 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time.
The issue of sewage water flowing into U.S. waters is largely attributed to outdated wastewater infrastructure across the southern border, local media outlets recently reported, with Mexico reportedly in the midst of addressing its infrastructure to curb the leaks of sewage water.
The Tijuana River has for decades been plagued by sewage and waste that has affected its beaches and neighboring San Diego.
In February, the Department of Defense’s inspector general released a report finding that the Naval Special Warfare Center reported 1,168 cases of acute gastrointestinal illnesses among SEAL candidates between January 2019 and May 2023 alone.
Navy SEAL trainees are shown during Hell Week. (Getty Images)
«Navy SEAL candidate exposure to contaminated water occurred because (Naval Special Warfare Command) did not follow San Diego County’s Beach and Bay Water Quality Program’s beach closure postings,» the inspector general report found. «As a result of Navy SEAL candidate exposure to contaminated water during training, candidates are presented with increased health risks and NAVSPECWARCOM’s training mission could be impacted.»
‘IBS, GERD, skin issues, weird cancers’
It was when Monroe, who is well-versed with veteran health through VetComm, was working with SEALs who were retiring that she realized the severity of the San Diego water pollution of the past few years.
She observed an increase in health claims related to intestinal issues and «weird cancers,» which was a departure from typical claims related to PTSD or orthopedic ailments.
US SENATOR BLASTS PRESIDENT OF MEXICO, SAYS TOXIC SEWAGE DUMP THREATENS ‘NATIONAL SECURITY’
«I started creating relationships with the SEAL teams, the people that were exiting the SEALs, you know, at 14 years, 20 years, nearing their retirement,» Monroe told Fox News Digital. «And the claims that we were making for these guys were surprising to me because a lot of them, they have combat PTSD, a lot of orthopedic issues. But we were having guys coming to us with, like, IBS, GERD, skin issues, weird cancers, and they were all attributing it to their time spent in San Diego training to be a SEAL in that water here that we have in San Diego.»
Swimming and spending time in water contaminated with feces can lead to a host of illnesses, including bacterial, viral and parasitic infections that leave people nauseous, vomiting and rushing to the bathroom.
Navy SEAL vet Jeff Gum was only days from entering the SEAL’s aptly named Hell Week — the fourth week of basic conditioning for SEAL candidates — when nausea hit him. He was trapped in a cycle of drinking water and vomiting when he realized a serious illness had its grips on him.
Gum is a retired SEAL who served from 2007 to 2017 and was exposed to the contaminated water in 2008 during BUD/S training off the San Diego coast.
Navy SEAL vet Jeff Gum (Jeff Gum)
«I couldn’t stop,» Gum recounted of how he couldn’t keep water down without vomiting. «You never really want to go to medical because they can pull you out or make you get rolled to the next class, but I couldn’t even drink water without throwing up. It’s the only time in my whole life that this has happened.»
Gum’s nausea overcame him on a Friday in 2008, with Hell Week kicking off that Sunday night. Hell Week is a more than five-day training that puts candidates through rigorous training, including cold-water immersion, «surf torture,» buoy swims, mud runs, all while operating on minimal sleep.
SAN DIEGO SUBURB FACES ‘SEWAGE CRISIS’ FROM LOCAL BEACH
Navy SEAL vet Jeff Gum in Iraq. (Jeff Gum)
«The sun goes down, and the instructors come out with big machine guns, that kicks it off,» Gum said of how Hell Week began. «We run out to the beach, right into the ocean. You spend the rest of the week soaking wet, covered in sand. And everywhere you go, you have a 200-pound boat on your head that you and your boat crew of six to seven guys will share the weight of, and you just run everywhere.»
Hell Week training for the SEALs includes carrying boats. (Getty Images)
«You’re just in the water. There’s no escaping it. It’s part of what makes BUD/S BUD/S. And it’s part of what makes the Navy SEALs America’s premier maritime special operators,» he said. «There’s not getting around how comfortable we have to be in the water. Cold, wet, miserable, doesn’t matter, we suck it up and we do it.»
MEXICO IS POISONING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN A BORDER CRISIS ALMOST NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT
Gum received IVs the weekend ahead of Hell Week and was able to keep food and water down by the time the intense training began, but he had been diagnosed with viral gastroenteritis, commonly known as the stomach flu and highly contagious, which then morphed into rhabdomyolysis due to exerting so much energy while dehydrated from viral gastroenteritis
Rhabdomyolysis is a serious illness that causes muscle to break down quickly and can lead to «muscle death» and the release of high levels of myoglobin in the blood that can injure a person’s kidneys.
The border fence between Imperial Beach near San Ysidro, California, right, and Playas de Tijuana near Tijuana, Mexico. (Getty Images)
Gum failed the first phase of BUD/S, but he was granted permission to return to training for a second time after senior leaders saw he had viral gastroenteritis. Gum again went through the first phase of BUD/S, but again he went to medical, where tests showed that his «blood came back toxic» from rhabdomyolysis.
The SEAL was put on medical leave and able to fully recover in his home state of Pennsylvania before he «crushed» the hellish training on his third try. He served on SEAL Team Five, deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, and taught combatives and prisoner handling to SEAL trainees in San Diego from 2013 until his retirement in 2017.
Sweetman told Fox Digital that «everyone who goes through training is going to get sick.»
Tijuana, Mexico, top, and San Diego (Getty Images)
«They’re going to get infections, and it’s terrible,» Sweetman told Fox Digital in an April Zoom interview. «And some might argue that this is Navy SEAL training. You have to go through the toughest conditions to be able to survive and make it. I would say that it’s gotten a little bit out of hand.»
The SEAL vet, who lives in the San Diego area, said the issue has gotten worse in recent years as Tijuana’s population grows.
I TRAINED WITH THE NAVY SEALS FOR A DAY. THIS IS WHAT I LEARNED
«When I went through training, it was absolutely a thing that they’d shut down the Imperial Beach because the ocean water was so bad, because the waste coming from Tijuana had infected the water,» Sweetman said. «You could always smell it. And oftentimes, even in the bay, we’d need to wash our wet suit after being out on a swim.»
Rob Sweetman served eight years as a Navy SEAL. (Rob Sweetman)
«Now, some of the training causes us to be deeply immersed in the water, and infections and all types of things can come up from being in the water. But I’ll say that it has gotten significantly worse as the population has doubled in Tijuana.»
Raw sewage from Tijuana is flowing into the San Diego area, causing illness to spread among SEALs and candidates. (Rob Sweetman)
‘A huge national crisis’
Gum and Monroe both said that water issue is a crisis, with Gum identifying it as a national security crisis that could cull well-suited candidates from the SEALs due to acute illnesses as well as sicken active SEALs.
«This is a huge national crisis,» he said. «Like half the SEAL teams are located in San Diego, the other half are in Virginia Beach. So when you’ve got half the SEAL teams who are getting exposed to this, then it’s a major issue.»
Monroe called it the «next Camp Lejeune» crisis, which sickened Marines with contaminated drinking water at the North Carolina Marine Corps base camp for nearly three decades. The crisis has cost the U.S. billions of dollars, including legal costs and settlements to vets and their families.
«This is going to be, in my opinion, the next Camp Lejeune water problem that cost our government $21 to $25 billion,» she said. «That’s just in the compensation directly, like the lawsuit portion of it. That doesn’t cover all the compensation you have to pay these veterans tax-free for the rest of their lives. I would say that this issue here in San Diego, if you look at it over the time that people have been training here, you’re looking at another $21 to $25 billion, plus all of the compensation that’s going to come. It would be cheaper for our country to fix this than it would to allow it to continue.»
The three veterans who spoke to Fox Digital all responded with optimism that the Trump administration will tackle the crisis and end it.
WILL CAIN, NAVY SEALS HONORS VETERANS AT 2024 NYC SEAL SWIM
Fox Digital exclusively reported earlier in April that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is heading to San Diego to meet with SEALs and see the crisis firsthand April 22, 2025.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is heading to San Diego to meet with SEALs and see the water firsthand April 22, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
«The raw sewage flowing from Mexico into the Tijuana River is creating serious, detrimental issues for communities with affected waterways,» Zeldin told Fox Digital ahead of the Tuesday trip.
«Ensuring America’s waters are clean is part of EPA’s core mission, and I look forward to being on the ground in San Diego in a few days to assess the situation and hear directly from those affected,» he said. «It is top-of-mind knowing that as this issue persists, more and more Navy SEALs remain at risk of sickness because of the contaminated waterways they train in. I strongly believe the time has come to finalize and implement an urgent strategy to end decades of raw sewage entering the U.S.»
BUD/S students participate in SEAL training at the Naval Special Warfare Center, Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado, California. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
A spokesperson for Naval Special Warfare added in a comment to Fox News Digital that SEALs and candidates’ health are a top priority and that officials are monitoring water quality in areas where they train.
«The Navy takes the health and safety of our personnel very seriously,» the spokesperson said. «Water quality at Navy training locations on the beach waterfront is closely monitored in coordination with local authorities. We are fully committed to ensuring warfighters at U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command train in a safe environment.»
Mexican sewage flows into the U.S. (Rob Sweetman)
Ahead of Zeldin’s visit, the water flowing from Mexico into the U.S. is as «nasty» as ever, according to Sweetman.
«What I see here is a tremendous amount of green, nasty water,» Sweetman said while pointing at the murky water. «I mean, you can smell it. This is disgusting. As it pours through, it doesn’t clear up. There’s no clarity to it. It just turns into a foam. And the foam sits on top of the water where it’s murky and it just continues to flow towards Imperial Beach and the ocean down here.»
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«It’s absolutely disgusting. I can’t comment strongly enough about how bad it is to be here. I’m here specifically because I want people to see just how bad it is,» he said. «The moment that I leave here, I’m going to go take a shower.»
US Navy,California,Mexico,MILITARY,National Security,Politics,Donald Trump,Lee Zeldin
INTERNACIONAL
WATCH: GOP senators divided over whether Epstein documents are a distraction or a needed reckoning
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Republican senators offered a range of responses when pressed on how the Trump administration has been handling the Epstein files controversy, with some calling it a distraction and others arguing the American people are «entitled» to answers.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the «first phase» of declassified files related to Jeffrey Epstein Feb. 27, noting the move was following through on President Donald Trump’s commitment to «lifting the veil» on Epstein and his co-conspirator’s actions. Bondi also said the same month she was in possession of an Epstein «client list.»
However, the February declassification contained mostly information and files that had already been publicly available, and the Justice Department subsequently indicated that no «client list» exists. Since then, a series of events, including a clash between FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and Attorney General Bondi, have led to mounting pressure on the Trump administration to release more files.
‘NOT GOING AWAY’: INSIDE THE EPSTEIN DRAMA THAT’S THROWN HOUSE GOP INTO CHAOS
Trump’s relationship with Epstein has come under more scrutiny after his DOJ under Attorney General Pam Bondi recently said there is no Epstein «client list.» (Getty Images)
«This is factual. Epstein trafficked a lot of young women, some of whom were minors. The American people are entitled to know who — if anyone — he trafficked these young women to, besides himself, and why they weren’t prosecuted,» John Kennedy, R-La., said.
«Now that’s a very simple question that’s at the bottom of all of this. The Department of Justice is going to have to answer that question to the satisfaction of the American people.»
TABLES TURN AS HOUSE GOP BLASTS DEMS FOR SUDDENLY DEMANDING EPSTEIN TRANSPARENCY FROM TRUMP ADMIN
Kennedy’s call for transparency comes after the president described the Epstein situation as a «hoax» while blasting Democrats and other «weaklings» who continue to buy into it.
«Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bull—-,’ hook, line, and sinker,» Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform last month amid mounting reports of internal division within the administration over its handling of the Epstein case
When asked about how the Trump administration was handling the Epstein furor, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said he thought the situation was being used by Democrats to create a «distraction» from the ongoing investigations into former President Biden and others, like the probe related to Biden’s use of an autopen tool to sign important documents and the investigation into whether Obama-era officials manufactured evidence to accuse Trump of Russian collusion.
Senators Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., left, and John Kennedy, R-La., shared their takes on how the Trump administration is handling the Epstein controversy. (Getty Images)
«Look what’s being investigated right now through the Biden administration. … So, what are they going to talk about now?» Mullin asked. «This is nothing but a distraction from the actual facts that is coming out about the Biden administration. Of course, the Democrats say, ‘Well, we’re just about transparency.’ Well, where was the transparency the last four years?»
Democrats have suggested Trump could be implicated in the files, but Mullin said that if such a circumstance were true, the information would have been leaked by the Biden administration.
Mullin’s counterpart in the Senate, Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford took more of a middle ground in his response about how the administration has been handling the Epstein files.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., left, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talk as they head to the U.S. Capitol for votes July 31, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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«The challenge is there are people that are victims that are in it, and there are folks that are not criminals that are in it as well,» Lankford said. «And the challenge the Department of Justice has is you’ve got a girl that was 14, 16 years old and was abused. Well, now she’s, let’s say 26 or 30, married and has children.
«Maybe her family knows about this, maybe they don’t. I don’t know the situation, but we gotta figure out a way to be able to protect those folks that are genuine victims on all this as well as getting out as much information as you possibly can.»
For Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the debate about the Epstein files was not something she was interested in talking about when approached by Fox News Digital.
«I’m going,» Collins responded when pressed on the matter outside the Capitol complex.
jeffrey epstein,republicans,senate,donald trump,ghislaine maxwell,politics
INTERNACIONAL
El líder de la ONU advirtió sobre una “peligrosa escalada” tras la decisión de Israel de tomar la ciudad de Gaza
El secretario general de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), António Guterres, expresó este viernes su preocupación tras la decisión de Israel de extender su ofensiva militar en la Franja de Gaza y asumir el control de la ciudad de Gaza, la mayor aglomeración del enclave palestino.
Según un comunicado leído por su portavoz adjunta, Stephanie Tremblay, Guterres considera que esta medida “marca una peligrosa escalada” en el conflicto y pone “aún más en peligro” a los civiles en la región, incluidos los rehenes en manos de terroristas palestinos.
En palabras de Tremblay, Guterres “está profundamente alarmado por la decisión del Gobierno israelí sobre ‘tomar el control de la ciudad de Gaza’”, y advirtió que esto podría “agravar las ya catastróficas consecuencias de millones de palestinos”.
El secretario general subrayó que los palestinos en Gaza “siguen padeciendo una catástrofe humanitaria de proporciones terroríficas”, al tiempo que señaló que una nueva ofensiva podría “provocar un nuevo desplazamiento forzado, muertes y destrucción masiva, suponiendo un sufrimiento inimaginable a la población palestina”.
El conflicto en la Franja de Gaza se acerca a los dos años y, según declaraciones oficiales, la decisión del gabinete de seguridad del primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu, añade tensión a la ya inestable situación.
El Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU anunció la convocatoria de una reunión de urgencia para este sábado, con el objetivo de abordar el nuevo plan israelí tras solicitudes de varios miembros, según informaron fuentes diplomáticas a la AFP. “Varios países en nuestro nombre y en el suyo propio están solicitando una reunión del Consejo de Seguridad”, declaró este viernes el representante palestino ante la ONU, Ryad Mansour.
Guterres reiteró su llamado a un alto el fuego y a facilitar la entrada de ayuda humanitaria, exhortando a las autoridades israelíes a cumplir con sus obligaciones conforme al Derecho Humanitario Internacional. “No habrá una solución sostenible a este conflicto sin el fin de la ocupación ilegal y una solución viable de dos Estados. Gaza es y debe seguir siendo parte integral de un Estado palestino”, afirmó el secretario general.
Adicionalmente, Guterres recordó que la Corte Internacional de Justicia (CIJ) exige a Israel “poner fin a su presencia ilegal en los territorios palestinos ocupados –que abarca Gaza y Cisjordania, incluida Jerusalén Este– lo antes posible”.
En el ámbito humanitario, Tremblay confirmó el encuentro celebrado el miércoles entre personal de la ONU y representantes de la Fundación Humanitaria de Gaza (GHF, por sus siglas en inglés), entidad respaldada por Israel y Estados Unidos desde mayo para la distribución de alimentos en la zona. La portavoz explicó que la reunión, impulsada por la Misión de EEUU ante la ONU, abordó “la grave situación humanitaria en Gaza”.
“Con prácticamente toda la población de Gaza al borde de la hambruna, damos la bienvenida a cualquiera que eleve su voz para llegar urgentemente con asistencia humanitaria a los civiles de Gaza. Pero ya tenemos un plan basado en principios humanitarios reconocidos globalmente”, explicó Tremblay.
Según el Ministerio de Sanidad palestino, cientos de personas han muerto por disparos del Ejército israelí o a consecuencia de disturbios cuando buscaban ayuda en los centros de la GHF, ubicados en áreas bajo control militar israelí. Una reciente investigación de Médicos Sin Fronteras (MSF) sostiene que estos centros ‘son lugares de asesinatos orquestados y deshumanización’ y pide su cierre. Además, un grupo de 25 relatores y expertos de la ONU solicitó esta semana el desmantelamiento de la GHF, creada por Israel en febrero de 2025 con apoyo de EEUU.
La ONU mantiene que su “plan funciona” y ofrece puntos de distribución en todo el territorio, donde las personas pueden recibir asistencia humanitaria de manera segura. Preguntada por los principios que rigen el trabajo de la GHF, Tremblay respondió: “Creo que puedes ver lo que está pasando en Gaza día a día”.
El aumento de la ofensiva y el control de Israel sobre la ciudad de Gaza han avivado la preocupación internacional. Con el Consejo de Seguridad preparado para abordar la situación, la comunidad internacional aguarda las próximas decisiones respecto al futuro del enclave y la respuesta humanitaria en la región.
(Con información de AFP, EFE y EP)
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