Massive LA sewage spill may close Long Beach beaches into weekend

Long Beach’s coastal beaches — off limits Tuesday due to a sewage spill — are not likely to reopen until Thursday moing at the earliest, city Environmental Health Bureau Manager Nelson Kerr said.

And that’s the most optimistic scenario — there’s a chance the beaches could remain closed into the weekend, Kerr acknowledged.

Kerr said 2.45 million gallons of untreated sewage had spilled into the Los Angeles River on Monday and flowed into the Long Beach Harbor Tuesday moing, causing the hazardous situation along the shoreline. Long Beach city workers have posted signs advising beachgoers to keep out of the water, Kerr said. On-duty lifeguards are also waing people to stay on dry land.

Wading into the water is a bad idea, which Kerr said could expose swimmers to ailments such as eye infections, diseases affecting the ears, nose and throat and gastrointestinal infections.

“This is untreated sewage,” Kerr said. “There’s obviously extremely high levels of bacteria. There could be viruses.”

On Tuesday, the Orange County Health Care Agency also issued a water quality alert for Seal Beach as a result of the spill, which also is bad news for Belmont Shore’s kiteboarding businesses. A trio of companies have permits there to provide lessons.

“It’s not fun,” said Jesse McCourt, who began his business Off the Hook Kiteboarding this year. “Weekdays are usually our busiest days. We were booked today through Friday, four or five lessons a day.”

“But, when life gives you lemons ...,” he added, “I’ve got a private client who’s been dying to get down to try kiting Huntington Beach, so I’ll be going out there today. It’s my favorite place for kitesurfing.”

The situation may not be quite so bad for business owners serving customers who don’t actually have to get wet, including Fred Khammar, who owns Alfredo’s Beach Club. Khammar handles beach rentals along the ocean as well as at Alamitos Bay, Mothers Beach and the Belmont Pier. He was unfazed Tuesday moing.

“S— happens,” Khammar quipped. “But I’m not worried. We’ve still got kayaks and paddleboards at the bay going out. People are renting bikes. We’ll have a thousand people here tonight (at Granada Beach) watching “Finding Nemo.”

“I don’t think a lot of people will be fishing from the pier,” Khammar said. “But otherwise, we’re fine.”

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BEACH CLOSURES IN LONG BEACH

A pipeline burst in downtown Los Angeles Monday, releasing an estimated 2.45 million gallons of raw sewage into the Los Angeles River, which flowed into Long Beach Harbor late Monday and into Tuesday, prompting several beach closures along the coastline, according to Long Beach Health officials. Long Beach has about seven miles of public beaches, visited by some 50,000 people during the summer months.

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Here are the beaches that are closed:

•5th Place Beach

•10th Place Beach

•Moline Ave. Beach

•Coronado Ave. Beach

•Westside of Belmont Pier

•Prospect Ave. Beach

•Granada Ave. Beach

•55th Place Beach

•72nd Place Beach

Here are the beaches that remain open:

•56th Place on Bayside

•Alamitos Bay shore Float

•2nd St. Bridge & Bayshore

•Mothers’ Beach

•Colorado Lagoon-South

•Colorado Lagoon-North