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Yuck! Millions Of Gallons Of Sewage Leaked Into The Ocean By El Segundo

An aerial view of the roofs of industrial buildings and homes as well as a stretch of sand and some ocean.
Aerial view of the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant.
(
Mayor Eric Garcetti's office
)

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If you're thinking about taking a dip in the ocean to cool off today, you might want to think again.

Officials say a one-mile stretch of water from Dockweiler RV Park to El Segundo is off-limits to swimmers due to a massive, overnight raw sewage spill.

About 17 million gallons of untreated sewage flowed out of the Hyperion Treatment Plant, just outside LAX, around 7 p.m. on Sunday night, and it didn't completely stop until sometime Monday morning.

L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn says it was due to some kind of mechanical failure at the facility.

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It goes without saying (but we'll say it again anyway) that raw sewage can carry harmful levels of bacteria and viruses, which can be hazardous to human health. So beachgoers are asked to stay out of the water until further notice.

Environmental group Heal the Bay says this is the first major sewage spill of this size to happen in the area since 2015.

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