Another Sewage Spill Closes an O.C. Beach

DANA POINT —  The word went out Friday, as it has twice before in the past week alone: Raw sewage had forced the closing of a stretch of Orange County coastline.

This time, the no-swimming signs went up at Doheny State Beach, where half the curving expanse of sand has been ordered closed by the Orange County Health Care Agency until further notice.

Once again, the apparent culprit is a faulty sewer line, the third time in eight days that spilled sewage has prompted a beach shutdown somewhere along the county’s coast. And although the sewer leaks are unrelated, the news is sobering to those who swim and surf, and who wince at the notion of raw sewage mixing with ocean water at beaches where thousands flock as schools close and the weather warms.

“You hear something like that and you think Los Angeles,” said Don Slaven, a board member of the Huntington/Long Beach Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, an environmental group. “You think that Orange County is beginning to push the envelope on being able to maintain the quality of life along the coast.”

The sewage leaks already are casting a pall on the summer of ‘96, with residents forced to drive farther and look harder for clean beaches and safe surf.

The three sewage leaks have prompted health officials to close parts or all of four beaches in eight days:

* Bolsa Chica State Beach next to Huntington Beach: Two-thirds of one of the county’s best-known beaches remains closed this weekend after elevated bacteria levels were detected offshore last week. The source of the contamination is believed to be a 2.5-mile sewer line, riddled with dozens of cracks, that serves the park’s 14 restrooms.

As many as 25,000 people normally gather at Bolsa Chica on summer weekends, park officials said.

* Salt Creek Beach Park, Monarch Beach: A 5,000-gallon sewage spill into Salt Creek forced the closing of a portion of Salt Creek Beach and all of the private Monarch Beach nearby on Monday. The apparent cause was the failure of a bypass line because of grease blockage, a health official said. Both beaches have reopened.

* Doheny State Beach: About half of the beach, which typically attracts up to 12,000 people on a summer Saturday, was closed Friday morning after the discovery of raw sewage leaking into San Juan Creek. The beach remains closed about 1,500 feet on either side of the creek.

The three leaks occurred in separate sewer lines miles apart, said a health employee who called the closures simple coincidence.

“It’s a combination of things, with no common thread,” said Monica Mazur, environmental health specialist with the county Health Care Agency.

Health officials got their first hint that something was amiss at Doheny on Thursday when they investigated a report of an odor under the nearby bridge that carries Pacific Coast Highway over San Juan Creek.

When they returned Friday, they found a sewage spill under the bridge, apparently coming from a line that links a nearby mobile home park with a sanitation plant, spanning the creek under the bridge.

The intermittent leak is releasing an estimated 500 to 1,000 gallons of sewage a day, Mazur said.

The private sewer line serves the 91-space Dana Point Marine Mobile Home Estates, and property supervisor Marilyn Mohr said a temporary bypass should be in place by today, stopping the spill, and that permanent repairs would follow.

Exactly when Doheny will reopen remained unknown Friday.

“We’ll continue to take samples. When we get samples that are acceptable, we’ll do a reopening,” Mazur said.

Health officials say the portions of Doheny and Bolsa Chica that remain open are safe for swimming. And at both beaches, people are allowed on the sand, which is small solace for swimmers and surfers.

“Usually, when you go to the beach, you want to get in the water,” said Elizabeth Falcone, a Doheny lifeguard.

The beach was unnaturally quiet Friday, with some beach-goers swimming in the open portion of the waters and others avoiding the ocean altogether.

“I was just out in the water yesterday. It’s a scary thought,” Falcone said.

At Bolsa Chica, representatives of parks, sanitation and health agencies continue to puzzle over how to cope with its crack-filled sewer line, possibly by installing chemical toilets or building a temporary bypass until the underground line can be dug up and replaced.

With Bolsa Chica closed, surfers are relocating to other beaches, which some fear could lead to beach crowding.

“You’re taking a population of surfers and beach-goers and spreading them into more confined areas,” said Surfrider’s Slaven, who has surfed the Orange County coast since the 1960s.

“The whole idea of going to the beach is to get out and get some rest and relaxation without feeling like you’re on the Santa Ana Freeway or the 405 at rush hour.”

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For updates on beach closings and related information, the public can call a special telephone line provided by the Orange County Health Care Agency at (714) 667-3752.