Area Beaches Closed after Sewage Spill of up to 7 Million Gallons
A Dec. 30 sewage spill that originated in Carson resulted in the closure of all beaches in Los Angeles County. The closure meant the annual polar bear swim at Cabrillo Beach was canceled.
In a released statement, the Los Angeles Department of Public Works said more than 6 million gallons of sewage spilled into the Dominguez Channel as a result of a 48-inch sewer main collapse at the intersection of 212th and Moneta streets, near the 110 Northbound off-ramp.
The County Sanitation Districts said contractors specializing in hazardous waste clean up were deployed to clean up the site. The sewage cleanup was completed before the new year.
County officials announced the affected beaches would remain closed until the water quality is determined safe to swim in. An updated map with the impacted beaches can be found at https://tinyurl.com/closed-beaches.
Officials say that hydrogen sulfide or any other threat to public health was not detected.
In October, the Dominguez Channel made national headlines for releasing high levels of hydrogen sulfide that sent residents of Carson to the emergency room for intense headaches and nausea. City officials later said the origin of the “rotten-egg” smell came from a warehouse fire containing beauty and wellness products.
On New Year’s Eve, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn shared her frustrations and concerns about the spill.
“A sewage spill of this magnitude is dangerous and unacceptable, and we need to understand what happened,” she said. “The recent storm undoubtedly contributed to the spill, but we need infrastructure that doesn’t fail when it rains.”