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29,000 gallons of sewage spill in Belmont Shore, forcing city to close coastal waters
A sign a Rosies Dog Beach in Long Beach warn visitors of the contaminated water. Photographed at Rosie's Dog Beach on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022 in Long Beach, CA.
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Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag
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Los Angeles Times
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Health officials say 29,000 gallons of sewage spilled out of a mainline pipe in Belmont Shore on Friday evening.
The spill happened around 6:30 p.m. near Livingston Drive and Second Street, according to a statement from the city’s Health Department.
“The spill was associated with a force main break, a pressurized pipe to convey wastewater,” according to the statement. There was no word on what caused the break.
Long Beach Utilities stopped the spill by rerouting sewage to bypass the line and is working on emergency repairs, and the city has called in a contractor to clean up what spilled.
City crews tried to catch as much of the sewage as possible before it reached drainage systems that led to the ocean, but about 14,000 gallons ultimately reached the sea, forcing Long Beach to close its coastal waters — including bays and lagoons.
Long Beach is no stranger to beach closures because of sewage spills, but it most commonly happens when sewage flows down the Los Angeles or San Gabriel rivers from upstream cities. Over one recent five-year span, local beaches were closed for 63 days because of upstream spills.
State law requires the closures any time sewage makes its way to the coast until testing shows the water meets quality standards. These rigorous rules don’t hold true for all types of spills.
When runoff from a massive warehouse fire in Boyle Heights sent potentially toxic chemicals flowing toward Long Beach in June, there was little public warning, and beaches remained open.
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