Estuary advocate, once a collaborator, now at odds with Hunter
By Leslie Berestein
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

August 25, 2008

SOUTH COUNTY – In the fall of 1990, an environmental activist from Imperial Beach received a presidential award at the behest of his congressman.


PEGGY PEATTIE / Union-Tribune
Mike McCoy, an environmental activist from Imperial Beach, lost his legal battle against a new border fence project championed by Rep. Duncan Hunter that McCoy says could threaten the Tijuana River estuary.


PEGGY PEATTIE / Union-Tribune
Spray from a water truck knocked down dust at the border fence project area near the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Mike McCoy was being honored with a Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Award, at the time presented by Republicans for stewardship of the environment. The congressman who nominated him was Duncan Hunter.

The Democratic veterinarian and the Republican congressman, who at the time represented Imperial Beach, didn't see eye to eye on everything, but they agreed on a surprising number of issues. There was sewage entering the Tijuana River estuary, and McCoy was working with Hunter's staff to clean it up.

A friendship of sorts emerged from their unlikely alliance. Once upon returning from Washington, Hunter gave McCoy, who chaired his environmental committee, a copy of a sketch drawn by Ronald Reagan of one of Hunter's sons.

“Thanks, McCoy,â€