Nearly 4 Miles of Tainted Beaches Reopen
NEWPORT BEACH — Excepting a 600-foot area at the mouth of the Santa Ana River, health officials Wednesday reopened a four-mile stretch of coastline that had been closed to swimmers because of sewage contamination.
“Things have cleared up great for the most part,” said Mike Wehner, water quality program chief for the county Environmental Health Department.
Officials ordered beaches closed from Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach to the Newport Pier after 250,000 gallons of sewage spilled from a Fountain Valley treatment plant last Wednesday.
Most of the sewage flowed into the Santa Ana River, which drains into the ocean.
Wehner said health officials will monitor the bacteria levels of the water for at least another week.
He said the department will decide Friday whether to open the remaining beach areas.
“Except for the area around the river mouth, the water is back to its normal levels. . . . People can go back into the water,” Wehner said.
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