Posted by ptf on November 07, 2001 at 14:56:39:
In Reply to: When does the Redondo canyon squid run start?? nt posted by ChrisM on November 07, 2001 at 14:01:19:
Seems as though there was a spill last weekend.
Sooner or later the shit will head south and the
bacteria will spike
To check out a once a week map go to
http://www.healthebay.org/baymap/brc.asp?map=3
the below for beach closures was found at
http://es.epa.gov/program/regional/local/la-hzmta.html
Los Angeles County
Department of Beaches and Harbors
Beach closure, pollution concentrations, and water quality.
(213) 451-8761
And finally ripped out of the LA TIMES
November 6, 2001
LOS ANGELES
Sewage Spill Closes Beaches
Health: Surfers, others complain about the lengthy delay before warnings are issued.
By BOB POOL, TIMES STAFF WRITER
A sewage spill was blamed Monday for the shutdown of beaches from
Santa Monica to Manhattan Beach. But it is the closure-notification
system that some were complaining stinks to high heaven.
Surfers, boaters and divers said they were never warned that 1.4 million
gallons of raw sewage flowed into Ballona Creek, Marina del Rey and
the ocean Friday night and much of the day Saturday, making the waters
unsafe for human contact.
Los Angeles County health officials said they will determine late today
whether the sewage has been diluted enough to allow the reopening of 9
1/2 miles of beachfront between Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica
and 28th Street in Manhattan Beach. "The water smelled bad and tasted
worse," grumbled Brent Bye, 28, who surfed north of the Venice pier
Sunday and Monday. He learned of the spill from a reporter.
"Nobody said anything. Yesterday the lifeguard boat went right by a
bunch of us and never warned us. I'm going home right now to shower
and pour rubbing alcohol in my ears. And I'm going to spit a lot on the
way home."
The sewage spill was caused by a power failure Friday at a Los Angeles
waste-water pumping plant that is being enlarged to handle future toilet
flows from the new Playa Vista residential and commercial development.
Because of the plant construction, power backup and alarm systems were
not in operation and the failure went unnoticed for 15 hours. An additional
12 hours passed before Los Angeles sanitation officials notified county
health workers. And as many as 10 more hours went by before county
lifeguards closed beaches in the Marina del Rey and El Segundo areas.
On Monday the closure zone was extended south to Manhattan Beach and
north to Santa Monica. But many beach-goers complained that they never
got word of any of it.
Surfers assumed that "Beach Closed" signs on the sand were left over from
last week's rain. Stormy weather routinely triggers beach closures.
Barry Berggren, a city sanitation manager, said the pumping plant failure
occurred when a car crash knocked down electric lines near a sewage
pump station at 5550 Inglewood Blvd. at 6:05 p.m. Friday. The power outage
lasted only 20 minutes, but it was enough to shut down the plant's pumps.
City officials learned of the pumping plant's shutdown at 9:30 a.m. Saturday
when passersby on four nearby streets noticed raw sewage pouring out
of manholes and gushing into storm drains. It took about six hours to
determine the source and scope of the problem, Berggren said.
Richard Kebabjian, a county health services manager, said his agency was
informed of the spill at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday. He said officials had
received no reports Monday of anyone becoming sick because of the
sewage--which he said was rapidly being diluted by the ocean.
County lifeguard Capt. Chris Linkletter said lifeguards are instructed to
advise swimmers and surfers of sewage spill hazards. She said one place
at the marina--Mother's Beach--was posted as closed.
That's not enough, said Mark Gold, head of the Heal the Bay
environmental group.
"It's absolutely reprehensible that the public was not informed," Gold said.
*
Times staff writer Kenneth R. Weiss contributed to this report.