Huntington Harbour beaches to remain closed until at least Sunday after 800 gallon sewage spill

An 800 gallon sewage spill has shut down a portion of Huntington Harbour in Huntington Beach, including Davenport and Humboldt beaches. 

Officials at the Orange County Ocean Water Protection Program say the spill took place New Year's Day at a storm drain at Heil Avenue and Algonquin Street.

A sewage treatment plant at the intersection initially spilled about 2,000 gallons of raw sewage into the drain, Denise Fennessy, Director of Orange County Environmental Health, told KPCC. The facility was able to recover about 1200 gallons before it reached the harbor, she said. 

The south and west portions of the harbor will be closed for the foreseeable future to swimmers from Wayfare Lane to Warner Avenue, Fennessy said. The earliest the beaches could reopen would be Sunday:

"We are sampling today and will be sampling tomorrow and if both of those samples come out fine, than the earliest we could reopen is Sunday," she said. "We need two consecutive days of results that are below state standards."

Fennessey said her agency received news of the spill at about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon after the treatment facility reported a pump failure.

Map: Huntington Harbour Closures