L.A. County says 8 million-plus gallons of sewage spilled into Dominguez Channel

Sanitation officials also report significant leaks in Long Beach, Rolling Hills Estates and Whittier because of the heavy rains

Officials now estimate that roughly 8 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Dominguez Channel on Monday — a large uptick from the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts' previous 5 million gallon approximation.

The Monday morning sewage spill originated in Rancho Dominguez at two separate sewer cover locations on Susanna Road and Atlantic Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts.

LACSD, the agency charged with managing the region's wastewater and solid waste, said Monday that the 8 million gallons of sewage discharged into the Dominguez Channel and Compton Creek, which lead to the Port of Long Beach and the Los Angeles River, respectively.

The cause of that spill — and several other significant sewage spill in the South Bay coastal area recorded since Monday — is the pair recent storm systems that have brought unprecedented amounts of rainfall to the region since last week.

Aside from the 8 million gallon spiledl into the Dominguez Channel, LACSD also reported:

• A 38,000-gallon sewage spill in Long Beach at 10th Street and Grand Avenue on Thursday.

• A 20,000-gallon sewage spill in Long Beach at Ultimo Avenue and Colorado Street on Thursday.

• A 10,000-gallon sewage spill in Rolling Hills Estates at North Palos Verdes Drive and Rolling Meadows Road on Thursday.

• A 43,000-gallon sewage spill in Commerce at Telegraph Road and South Atlantic Avenue on Monday,.

Three other sewage spills — two in Whittier on Monday and Tuesday and one in Long Beach on those same days — also are under investigation.

The amount of sewage spilled in those incidents is still pending, sanitation districts spokesperson Bryan

Langpap said in a Tuesday statement.

Several costal areas, including Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro and all oceanwater swimming areas in Long Beach, have been closed until further notice as a result of Monday's massive sewage spill.

“The cause for all of these appears to be the same,” Langpap said. “High rainfall leading to street flooding, leakage into the sanitary sewers, too much flow and an overflow.”

The unprecedented rainfall, Langpap said, has put a significant strain on L.A. County's treatment plants and wastewater infrastructure.

The A.K. Warren Water Resource Facility in Carson — the county's largest wastewater treatment plant — had a low flow rate of 180 to 200 million gallons per day before the rain, Langpap said.

“Yesterday, Feb. 5, our low flow was 600 million gallons per day — and we stayed at or above that level for 12 hours,” he said. “So, that's three times the normal flow and that's all from water getting into the sewer system.”

L.A. County's sewer system, in addition, consists of 1,400 miles of pipe overseen by LACSD, alongside another 10,000 miles of pipe operated and maintained by its member cities.

“That is thousands of manholes across the L.A. basin,” Langpap said, “and when we have a widespread, sustained rain event like this one — lots of places for leakage to occur and accumulate leading to the issues we've had.”

LACSD, alongside the L.A. County Department of Public Health and the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, are all conducting water quality testing of the affected areas.

Testing began yesterday, Langpap said, though LACSD had yet to receive the results of its initial sampling by Tuesday evening.

Water quality sampling will continue until bacteria levels return to state standards for at least two days in a row. Amid the persistent rainfall, it's unclear when that will happen.

More information about water quality is available at publichealth.lacounty.gov/ Beach and tinyurl.com/LBWaterQual.