Persistent heavy rain has overloaded Southern California sewage systems causing it to barf sewage in three locations around the region. Long Beach closed its beaches on Monday after 250,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the Los Angeles River near Studio City, an overflow that occurred on Sunday, says the Los Angeles County Bureau of Sanitation, notes the Long Beach Press-Telegram. more ›

Who knew the waters that lap the shores of Long Beach were such a hot bed of headline-generating eco-focused news? 2010 was a banner year for environmental issues at the national and state level, and the Long Beach Gazettes.com takes a look back at the year at their beach. more ›

A sewage spill in Burbank has affected the beaches down in Long Beach, according to Everything Long Beach. more ›

RV dwellers allegedly dumping their sewage onto city streets became a big news topic last week after Venice residents began documenting and publishing the incidents online. The city took swift action, arresting one person and creating a working group to address human waste, but the dumping reportedly continued. more ›

Looks like an unofficial public health alert issued by a blog on Monday has gotten the attention of city officials. Last night police cleared some streets in the Venice area, making room for sanitation officials to clean sewage -- including human waste -- allegedly dumped by RV dwellers. One arrest was also made. more ›

A break in a sewage line belonging to the Santa Margarita Water District last Tuesday is still causing problems on some beaches in the OC, according to the OC Register. "About three miles of coastline from Dana Point to Capistrano Beach are still closed," thanks to the break, and despite the completion of repair work late Friday night, "Orange County Health Care Agency officials said they will not be able to reopen the beaches until water samples meet state safety standards." Officials need to log two consecutive days of clean samples in order to re-open the beaches; this could happen later this afternoon at the earliest. more ›

L.A. County health officials have closed the area around Lunada Bay off the coast of Palos Verdes Estates due to a sewage spill that occurred this afternoon. 100,000 gallons spilled onto the streets at Via Rivera and Paseo Lunado around 3:30 p.m. after a sewage pipe collapsed, resulting in effluence flowing into the Bay. The flow of sewage has been stopped by sanitation officials and cleanup is in progress. The advisory to stay away from nearby waters will be in effect for at least 72 hours, pending test results that measure the bacteria level in the ocean water. more ›

Unfortunately, sewage spills in the Long Beach area are all too often. The latest began this weekend when a sewage line began to leak on Saturday night. The waste entered the storm drain system and headed towards Shoreline Village at the mouth of the L.A. River. more ›

Public health officials today extended the closure to a portion of Will Rogers State Beach after tests confirmed that sewage was being discharged from a storm drain into the ocean. How much sewage? Approximately 9.600 gallons, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health. That's a big yuck. more ›

Public Health officials are warning the public that a one-mile stretch of Will Rogers State Beach in the Pacific Palisades area might be tainted by sewage from a nearby storm drain. Late Tuesday night, a citizen alerted authorities of a "foul smell" emanating from the storm drain, prompting LA County Public Health officials to take samples of ocean water in order to determine if sewage has been discharged. The precautionary measure--swim at your own risk!--will remain in effect until noon, Friday, pending test results. The beach currently has an A+ on Heal the Bay's Beach Report Card. more ›

On September 9th, the Santa Monica Pier celebrated its Centennial. Fireworks lit up the sky and thousands of people gathered to honor a landmark that seems to be synonymous not only with Santa Monica, but with Los Angeles, and our love affair with having fun at the edge of the Pacific Ocean more ›

Closed Monday after 1,000 gallons of sewage spilled into Los Cerritos Channel, three affected beaches were allowed to open back up to the public today after tests concluded the water was within state standards. Mother’s Beach, Colorado Lagoon and Marine Stadium were closed after a private pumping station failed, spilling raw sewage into the storm system. Water quality monitoring will continue to be performed by the Health Department’s Recreational Water Quality Program on a weekly basis, says Long Beach officials. more ›

As one side of the city deals with importing water, even as they face a possible water rationing situation, another deals with exporting the water. The City’s Bureau of Sanitation is in charge of wastewater, which is the focus of City Controller Laura Chick's most recent audit (.pdf) on performance and efficiency. As usual... "There are issues, however, uncovered in my audit regarding a lack of 21st Century business practices and efficiencies, which require attention." Among the problems she lists are broken equipment, outdated software and the lack of evaluation. Los Angeles has the largest sewer system in the nation with 6,500 miles of sewers carrying 450 million gallons of waste every day. A 2004 lawsuit settlement after torrential rains caused significant sewage overflowing gave the city 10 years to implement a program to reduce the flooding in future rainstorms. more ›

A deteriorated metal clamp at a Laguna Beach pump station caused thousands of gallons of sewage to spill out onto city streets and into the beach for eight hours today, beginning around 2:00 a.m. this morning. The mess has caused four miles of coast to be closed meaning beaches are to be closed for an estimated two days. The OC Register lists past beach spills in previous years, but Long Beach holds the title for most sewage spills with 31 of them as of August. more ›

3.85 miles of beach were closed yesterday after 20,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the LA River via the Compton Creek in the Watts area. Long Beach's Health Officer, Dr. Helene Calvet, issued a beach closure specific to Long Beach’s open coastal beaches from Alamitos Avenue to 72nd Place, according to a release issued by the city. This is the 31st sewage spill since January causing the fourth beach closure. This time last year, there had been 41 spills and 7 closures, according to LA Times background work. more ›

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