High level of bacteria triggers advisory
Caution is for beaches near Hyperion water plant sewage spill
Several beaches near the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant were under health advisories Thursday because bacteria levels exceeded state standards, though the reason is unknown.
There’s currently no sewage flowing from that plant, near El Segundo, into the oceans, the Los Angeles County Department of Health said in a Wednesday night advisory announcing the elevated levels. And there are several reasons why water testing on Tuesday revealed the elevated levels, the department said.
The advisory, however, pointedly noted the areas where the public should be cautious about swimming — from Dockweiler State Beach to El Segundo State Beach — was near the water
treatment plant, which released 17 million gallons of untreated sewage into the ocean earlier this month as an emergency measure after it became inundated with debris.
Lifeguards put up yellow advisory tags at the beaches.
The department “is cautioning residents who are planning to visit several Los Angeles County beaches,” the advisory said, “to be careful of swimming, surfing, and playing in ocean waters around discharging storm drains, creeks, and rivers.
“Bacterial levels often fluctuate from day to day,” the advisory added, “and can be impacted by recent rain events.”
The advisory also mentioned the health department was conducting outreach to residents affected by ongoing odor related to repairs at the plant.
The Department of Public Health did not provide answers to questions about its advisory by deadline.
But the advisory, which was still in place as of 6 p.m. Wednesday, continued a recent streak of unnerving revelations for South Bay beachgoers and those who live near the Hyperion plant.
On the afternoon of July 11, an unusually high amount of trash and other debris began flowing into Hyperion plant, which treats wastewater before releasing it back into the ocean.
The trash increasingly overwhelmed the plant and the plant began flooding. Around 8 p.m. that day, the plant started releasing untreated sewage into the ocean as an emergency relief effort. That sewage flowed until about 4 a.m. July 12.
By the end, some 17 million gallons of raw sewage ended up in the ocean. Nearby beaches closed for four days.
But the Department of Public Health did not send out a formal public notice until around 5:30 p.m. July 12, sparking outrage from elected officials and some residents, at least one of whom said her daughter swam in the ocean after the sewage spill occurred.
A report on the spill and the health department’s response came out earlier this week, criticizing both Hyperion and DPH officials for “failures.”
That report described a nearly catastrophic event, prevented only by Hyperion staffers working under “extraordinary circumstances.” The health department did not act with enough urgency in closing beaches, the report added.
Barbara Ferrer, the director of DPH, apologized to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday for what she acknowledged were her department’s failures.
Hyperion officials, meanwhile, are still conducting repairs to make the facility, which the city of Los Angeles owns, fully operational. In the meantime, residents are dealing with a stench coming from the plant because of the repairs.
Those repairs could last weeks, L.A. Sanitation & Environment, the city agency in charge of Hyperion, has said.
Sanitation & Environment has posted a log of completed Hyperion repairs on its website and says it will be updated regularly.
So far, the log shows one completed item, as of 6:30 p.m. Thursday: On Wednesday, workers finished repairs that allowed Hyperion to resume hauling biosolids — fecal matter — for the first time since July 11.
The health department was going door-to-door to visit nearby residents affected by the related odors this week. That effort was set to continue through Friday, the department’s beach advisory notice said.
It was not clear what that outreach entailed.
Previous spill
While this month’s sewage spill was not the first time such a thing has happened at Hyperion, it does appear to be a rare occurrence.
The State Water Resources Control Board has inspected Hyperion 34 times from October 4, 1995 to June 9, 2020, according to state records.
Hyperion has had two violations during that time, and both came during the same Dec. 2, 2015, inspection.
Those violations, however, were also related to an incident where 200 pounds of debris made it into the ocean — causing beaches to close.
Hyperion officials, in fall 2015, needed to repair or replace piping and a large valve at its Effluent Pumping Plant. The work would take six weeks, state records show, and required the plant to completely shutdown its five-mile outfall, through which treated wastewater typically flows from Hyperion to the ocean.
Instead, Hyperion would use its one-mile outflow — the same one it used to send untreated sewage to the ocean on July 11 and 12.
The state water board OK’d the work, which was set to begin Sept. 21, 2015.
But during a “rain event” on Sept. 15, a discharge valve malfunctioned, causing the Effluent Pump Plant to flood, according to a settlement agreement between the state water board and Los Angeles.
Hyperion did an “unplanned diversion,” sending 30 million gallons of treated wastewater into the ocean, the settlement said.
But solid sewage also went with the water, including “plastics, feminine hygiene, casings, lancets and other waste,” the settlement said.
On Sept. 21, the plant performed a planned discharge — but once again, “floatable material” was released and washed ashore.
Dockweiler State and El Segundo beaches closed for four days.
An investigation revealed that the debris came from Hyperion’s North Drain System and was residual material that had remained there untouched for more than 10 years, the settlement said.
Until the flooding occurred. When Hyperion officials sent millions of gallons of water through the one-mile outfall, the debris dislodged.
As a result, the city had to pay a $1.31 million fine. The city also had to complete two environmental initiatives: An environmental cleanup and awareness project, and a stormwater quality improvement and infiltration project, according to the settlement.
Beach advisory remains in place
On Thursday evening, the Department of Public Health announced another beach near Hyperion was under the advisory: the Topsail Street extension near Venice.
The beaches listed in the initial advisory and still under it Thursday were:
• El Segundo Beach.
• Grand Avenue storm drain (near Dockweiler Tower 60).
• Dockweiler State Beach.
• Ballona Creek (near Dockweiler Tower 40).
• Culver Blvd storm drain.
• Hyperion plant outfall.
• Imperial Highway storm drain (Dockweiler Tower 56).
• Westchester storm drain.
• World Way extension. An advisory is issued when there is significant rainfall that causes runoff or when bacteria levels in the water exceed state standards, according to the health department’s website.
The health department’s website, however, does not define significant rainfall. But the department’s webpage that lists water quality advisories did not show any related to rain.
The National Weather Service, however, does record “significant rainfall events,” which it lists as at least 2 inches in 24 hours.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles International Airport — the closest Weather Service reporting station to Hyperion — had 0.12 inches of rain.
That’s also the total for the entire month, according to the Weather Service.
The health department’s advisory, meanwhile, also listed several other beaches with elevated bacteria levels — but set them apart from the ones near Hyperion.
Those beaches were:
• Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica.
• Montana Avenue storm drain at Santa Monica Beach (Santa Monica North Tower 8).
• Wilshire Boulevard storm drain at Santa Monica Beach (Santa Monica North Tower 12).
• Temescal Canyon storm drain at Will Rogers State Beach.
• Avalon Beach at Catalina Island (50 feet east of the pier).
In that section of the advisory, the health department also noted bacteria levels can be capricious.
“These advisories are very likely due to day-to-day fluctuations in ocean water bacteria levels” the advisory said. “At this time, there is no reason to suspect these increases in beach water bacteria are due to the recent sewage discharge at Hyperion.”