Spill deal

mile water collection stream and estuary that runs from Hawthorne to Los Angeles Harbor.

It's unclear if the planned improvements for water treatment at Calas Park would have averted the new problem, or if Calas Park is connected to the spill.

On Monday, county health officials were told that wastewater again was flowing

from the channel into the ocean. Though that flow has been stopped, high bacteria counts in the ocean have prompted health officials to tell swimmers and surfers to stay out of the water off Long Beach and San Pedro.

The size of this week's spill is estimated to be 8 million gallons, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said Tuesday. The cause of the spill remains under investigation.

The state described Calas Park as a popular recreational area that has “historically

been overburdened by the impacts of pollution.”

Money from the Sanitation District is expected to be used to create a system to capture and treat storm and groundwater, using underground infiltration and rain gardens, among other things. The goal is to help the community by reducing the amount of contaminants in surface waters.

The project also will include a public awareness campaign and education about urban runoff. In reference to the spills from 2021, and the settlement

announced Tuesday, Norma Camacho, chair of the Los Angeles Water Board, said in a prepared statement:

“These are serious incidents that threatened water quality in multiple communities, especially in Carson. … The board appreciates the fact that the districts are planning infrastructure upgrades, acted quickly to clean up the December 2021 spill and will be funding a project to improve water quality in the disadvantaged community where the worst spill occurred.”