Raw sewage taints miles of California beaches

El Niño storms have caused raw sewage to pour into the ocean

Many stretches are closed

February 28, 1998
Web posted at: 12:14 p.m. EST (1714 GMT)

SANTA MONICA, California (AP) -- El Niño downpours have caused millions of gallons of raw sewage to overflow from treatment plants, turning ocean waters into a cauldron of bacteria and forcing health officials to close down miles of California's famous beaches.

"Pretty much anything you flush is there. It's not a pretty sight," said Larry Honeybourne, program chief of the Orange County Health Care Agency's water-quality section.

Keith Coleman got quite a sight as he rode his bike by a storm drain at the beach.

"You could see debris floating, things like condoms, syringes, Kotex. It was disgusting," he said. "It's a shame you come to the beach and you can't even go into the water."

All 35 miles of Los Angeles County beaches were closed this week when rain-swamped sewers spit 5.5 million gallons of sewage into a creek that feeds Santa Monica Bay. Results of tests Friday afternoon prompted officials to reopen two-thirds of the beaches for the sunny weekend.

"Where are the bikinis?" asked a disappointed Eric Van Sickle, 15, of Columbus, Ohio, as he sat Friday on the Santa Monica Pier, which juts out into the Pacific and gives visitors a panoramic view of the usually pristine shoreline used by the cast of "Baywatch."

The storms have made swimming a difficult chore at San Francisco's Aquatic Park at Fisherman's Wharf.

"It's been horrible. Sometimes all that stuff just hangs off the cove here when we swim -- broken piers, big huge logs, whatever," swimmer Lou Marcelli said. "Some even have big spikes sticking out. It can be very harmful."

Copyright 1998   The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Related sites:

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• Orange County Health Care Agency
• Sea Grant Program at the University of Southern California
  • El Niño Facts
• California Coastal Commission
• California Flood Information - California Resources Agency
• Federal Emergency Management Agency - El Niño Section
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
  • National Weather Service
• DisasterRelief.org
• Directory listing of NWS flood warnings - posted by Ohio State University

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