17-million-gallon sewage spill prompts closure of beaches from Dockweiler to El Segundo

[ripcord]

Source: ABC News

Beaches from El Segundo to the southern end of Playa del Rey were closed to swimmers Monday due to a 17-million-gallon sewage spill.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn announced the closure on Twitter, writing that a power outage Sunday at the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant caused untreated sewage to spill into the ocean. Hahn later tweeted the cause was a "mechanical failure," not a power outage.

Hahn said beaches were closed to swimming from El Segundo north to the Dockweiler RV Park until further notice. Officials were conducting tests on the water, and it was unclear how long the closure would last.

Hyperion Executive Plant Manager Timeyin Dafeta issued a statement Monday afternoon saying that on Sunday afternoon, the plant "became inundated with overwhelming quantities of debris, causing backup of the headworks facilities. The plant's relief system was triggered and sewage flows were controlled through use of the plant's one-mile outfall and discharge of untreated sewage into Santa Monica Bay."

Read more: https://abc7.com/17-million-gallon-sewage-spill-prompts-closure-of-some-la-beaches-/10882755/?fbclid=IwAR1rei23yLoZ88bYN1uCx9V_aVKmJbcfFiC1l36bNEU7KX4Z7kMrQZsn6PM

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Well crap.

[3auld6phart]

1. Holeee

shit. I am at a loss for words. Seriously that really is seriously bad.

[jaxexpat]

3. Sewage systems all over America are functioning on hair trigger tolerances.

Many streams and beaches are subject to sewage devastation caused by any number of issues, from faulty backup generators to piping materials failure. This is part of the infrastructure emergency already happening.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. I can remember the beach at Santa Monica being closed for sewage issues in the early 1990's

This kinda shit ain't new, unfortunately.

[RockRaven]

4. I guess it's good the the emergency/relief system triggered properly...

In that sense, this particular spill is sort of a good thing, given the bad circumstance of overwhelming debris. Who knows what kind of damage could have been done to the facilities if it hadn't? That might have resulted in even longer/worse spillage overall.

[BigmanPigman]

5. Sewage and other pollution comes up from Mexico

and flows into San Diego's water and beaches constantly. Beaches are often closed due to it.

"The problem is simple: The Tijuana River flows north and brings pollution from Mexico into the United States causing unsanitary water conditions and beach closures.

Three-quarters of the 1,700-square-mile Tijuana River watershed lies in Mexico. However, the watershed, along with all its pollutants, drains into the Tijuana River Valley in San Diego County.

The harmful effects of that pollution touch every aspect of life in San Diego."

https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/op-eds?ID=31E8F1D1-7596-4466-88EB-09790573A3C5

[hunter]

8. The New River, which flows from Mexico into the Salton Sea, is a similar nightmare.

Here's what it looks like crossing the boarder:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_River_%28Mexico%E2%80%93United_States%29

The last time I was there, many years ago, the water and foam weren't so pretty. It was essentially an open sewer.

There's some cooperation with Mexico to clean these messes up, but there's a lot of animosity between the two nations as well, especially over Colorado River water, some of which ends up in San Diego.

By the time the Colorado River reaches Mexico there's just a small trickle of water left.

[BigmanPigman]

10. San Diego's water is very heavy in minerals

since we are almost at the end of the Colorado River journey. When our hot water heater needed replacing at my apt complex the plumbers told me that San Diego goes through them quickly compared to other cities. The sediment builds up and corrodes stuff. He said heating manufacturers use our water as the "worst" compared to the the rest. I don't know if this is true but I believe it from my experiences.

[Jose Garcia]

6. I hope no one loses their wallet

[ruet]

9. Damn You!

[hunter]

7. Historically the plant dumped minimally treated sewage and sludge into Santa Monica Bay until 1987.

California Brown Pelicans were nearly driven to extinction by industrial wastes in this sewage, primarily wastewater from the manufacture of DDT.

In the 1960s and 1970s the park's colonies of California brown pelicans faced extinction. In 1970 on West Anacapa Island, only 552 nesting attempts were made and only chick survived. Scientists pinpointed the pesticide DDT flowing from mainland sewers into the sea as the cause. When the pelicans ate contaminated fish, DDT disrupted their reproductive systems. DDT altered the birds' calcium metabolism, resulting in egg-shell thinning. The egg shells were so thin that they broke under the parent's weight resulting in reproductive failure.

The federal government listed the brown pelican as an endangered species in 1970, the state of California listed it as endangered in 1971, and DDT was eventually banned in 1972. The fight to save these birds led to a remarkable recovery. The park's breeding populations have steadily increased since 1980 and this subpopulation is now believed to be fairly stable. On Anacapa Island from 1969-1984, average colony size was 900 nest attempts per year.Strong increases in both productivity and nest attempts were observed in the mid 1980s, and the Anacapa colony has produced a mean of 4,600 nests per year during 1985-2006.

https://www.nps.gov/chis/learn/nature/brown-pelican.htm