/ Modified aug 4, 2017 4:53 p.m.

Episode 327: Repairing the Sewer Pipe Crossing the Border in Nogales

Plus: A bipartisan group with a health care agenda, and a look at the Port of Tucson and Arizona railroad history.

It’s been over a week since a breach occurred in a cross-border sewer line, and for days sewage from the pipe connecting Nogales, Sonora, and Nogales, Arizona, found its way into the Nogales Wash.

The underground pipe transports 10 million gallons of raw sewage between Ambos Nogales, and as a result of the break Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey declared a state of emergency.

Each year, residents of the two communities fear a break, and this week’s rupture sparked a closer look at how the U.S. and Mexico work together to treat the sewage, what kinds of ecological impacts such rupture has, particularly on the Santa Cruz River, and who is responsible for maintaining the line.

We check in on the status of the breach and explore the international governance and environmental implications of the sewer line.

Recent dramatic events surround efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act have revealed little about the future of health care in the country. Republican U.S. Rep. Martha McSally joined Arizona Week to talk about a bipartisan group calling themselves the “Problem Solver Caucus.”

The 43 representatives are advancing a plan to stabilize the market, specifically by dealing with the medical-device tax and the employer mandate. The group hopes the plan opens the door to finding a solution to repealing and replacing the ACA.

Also, we take a closer look at the Port of Tucson, which functions as a logistical hub for the Union Pacific Railroad. Located in southeast Tucson along Interstate 10, the port is privately owned by the Levin family, which has plans to expand the port.

On the program

  • U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva
  • John Light, international Boundary and Water Commission
  • U.S. Rep. Martha McSally
  • Union Pacific spokesman Jeff DeGraff
  • Eric Anderson, transportation director, Maricopa Association of Governments
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