Long Beach, California: Sewage Spill Closes All Coastal Swimming Areas After Force Main Break

All of Long Beach's coastal swimming areas are closed after a sewage spill on Friday evening sent wastewater toward the ocean, city officials said.

The spill began at about 6:30 p.m. on Friday, October 30, near Livingston Drive and Second Street in the Belmont Shore area, according to the Long Beach Utilities Department. City health officials said the cause was believed to be a break in a force main, a pressurized pipe that carries wastewater. The local health department said it was not clear what caused the break.

The utilities department put the spill at about 29,000 gallons. Crews recovered about 15,000 gallons, while the remaining 14,000 gallons were discharged into the ocean, officials said. Early reports on Saturday put the spill at about 27,000 gallons before the city published its higher total.

Every swimming area in the city is closed

City Health Officer Dr. Cliff Okada ordered the temporary closure of all open coastal swimming areas in Long Beach. The order covers all six miles of the city's open coastal beaches, along with bay swimming areas and lagoons. A city update put the number of closed beach and open swimming sites at 15.

The areas will stay closed until recreational water quality meets state requirements. State law requires the closures any time sewage makes its way to the coast, and the water cannot reopen until testing shows it meets quality standards, officials said.

Repairs, cleanup and testing

Utility workers rerouted the sewage through a bypass line so the broken pipe could be repaired, and emergency repair work was under way through the weekend. The city called in a contractor, Ocean Blue, to help with the cleanup, and officials said no sewer service interruptions had been reported.

With rain expected this weekend, water sampling was expected to begin on Monday, November 2. Until those results come back and meet state standards, swimmers and beachgoers are being told to stay out of the water at every Long Beach swimming area.

A shoreline already under strain

The spill reached the coast during a run of high tides that has kept Long Beach crews busy for weeks. Heavy equipment has been working along the shoreline to reinforce sand berms near Belmont Shore and protect homes affected by the high tide events, and coastal flood advisories have been in effect across Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties. City officials said tides driven by a stronger than usual El Nino raised the risk that spilled waste would reach the ocean.

It is not the city's first pollution problem this year. In May, about 2,400 gallons of oil spilled from a ruptured pipeline in Los Angeles and flowed into the Los Angeles River, and crews placed containment booms in Long Beach to keep the crude from reaching the ocean.

For now, the city's message is simple: the beaches are open to visit, but nobody should swim. The closure stays in place until the water tests clean.