Sewage spill closes portion of Newport Bay

Laylan Connelly, staff writer — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:05:11 +0000

A portion of Newport Bay was closed at 4:15 p.m. today after a sewage spill near Bayshore beach, according to the Orange County Health Agency.

The closure means swimmers and divers are restricted from the area until test come back that say it’s safe to get back in.

The spill was caused by a sewer line that backed up from a rehabilitation hospital on 16th street, said Larry Honeyborne, water quality scientist for the county.

Honeyborne said 500 gallons spilled, but the city was able to capture about 300 gallons before it entered the storm drain. About 200 gallons ended up flowing down the storm drain and flowing out onto the beach area, near the Pacific Coast Highway overpass.

The county will begin testing water samples on Wednesday to determine whether the area can be opened up to the public, but it will likely take a few days before the public can get back into the water.

According to a recent study by Heal the Bay, the number of beach closures in Orange County has dropped from previous years.
Of the 12 total sewage spills during last years report period, the only spill of “significant size” happened at Aliso Creek in July, which left the beach closed for several days. Read more from that that “Beach Bummer” blog here.

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Sewage spill closes portion of San Clemente beach

Laylan Connelly, staff writer — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:38:55 +0000

If you’re headed down to San Clemente to hit the water today, stay away from North Beach where a sewage spill has closed a portion of the beach.

The Orange County Health Agency closed the beach as of 8:30 a.m. today, an area that includes 150 feet upcoast and 150 feet downcoast of the Pico storm drain.

The area is closed to swimming, surfing and diving.

The spill occured when a piece of debris got stuck in a valve at the sewage treatment plant, said Director of Public Works David Lund.

The city was able to catch about 100 gallons of sewage before it reached the beach, but 50 gallons made its way into the water.

“I can’t imagine it will be closed for very long, but we’ll leave that up to the County health department,” he said.

Lifeguard supervisor Kevin Hoy said signs are posted where beachgoers are restricted.

For more info on beach closures and bacteria levels at your beach, go to ocbeachinfo.com

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