Beaches in Long Beach, Seal Beach may reopen Thursday

The possibility remains that beaches in Long Beach and Seal Beach — closed since a Monday sewage spill originating in Los Angeles made swimming a hazardous proposition — may reopen Thursday.

Health officials need to record two consecutive days of clean test results to let beachgoers back into the water. Water samples taken from Long Beach the day after the sewage spill showed that bacteria levels that exceeded Califoia public health standards, but at levels that would not have required a closure had this week’s sewage spill not occurred, Long Beach environmental health operations Keith Allen said.

Long Beach’s next round of test results may be available at about 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

“If they’re acceptable we could open the beaches at that time,” Allen said.

The Orange County Health Care Agency is responsible for testing the water near Seal Beach. Anthony Martinez, a program manager for the agency, said one of Seal Beach water samples taken on Tuesday showed slightly elevated contamination levels. Seal Beach’s next test results may be known about lunch time on Thursday.

Orange County officials also plan to look at Long Beach’s test results before determining if the ocean waters near Seal Beach are safe, Martinez said. If it tus out that Long Beach’s next round of results are in the danger zone, the beaches in Seal Beach may also stay closed.

“We can’t be more definitive than that, given the volume of the spill and proximity to Seal Beach,” Martinez said.

In Long Beach, officials have closed ocean-facing coastal beaches. Places like Mothers Beach and other beaches facing inward to Alamitos Bay, however, remain open.

Seal Beach’s coastline has been closed from the San Gabriel River to the Anaheim Bay Breakwater, according to Orange County health officials.

Progress made on repairs

As of Wednesday, Los Angeles Public Works officials estimated some 2.4 million gallons of sewage flowed into the Los Angeles River after a 5-foot sewer pipe near the intersection of Sixth Street and Mission Road, in an industrial area near the east bank of the river, failed at about 2 p.m. Monday afteoon.

L.A. officials further reported that debris fell into the damaged pipe, causing the spillage. Adel Hagekhalil, assistant director of city sanitation, said about 750,000 gallons of spilled sewage had been recaptured, and officials were still working to determine exactly how much had spilled.

Workers stopped the spill about 1:50 p.m. Tuesday, roughly 24 hours after it began.

Repair crews in Los Angeles continued to work on fixes on Wednesday, saying they were performing work that normally takes two weeks, and hoped to have it completed within 24 hours. Crews were installing a pair of 18- inch-diameter pipes along with pumps as a bypass system.

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“We’re confident that by this afteoon we should have everything contained,” Hagekhalil said.

“This is an old sewer, an aging sewer that was plaed to be repaired,” he said. “... This one, we had a plan and it did not wait for us, it collapsed. Our record is very good in the city of Los Angeles. ... We spent over $2 billion in the last 10 years in (upgrading) our sewers.”

Local responses

Long Beach City Attoey Charles Parkin said city staffers have begun the task of figuring out whether they can file a claim for any costs related to the spill.

“We will certainly look to collect our costs, if possible,” he said.

In a similar incident, Parkin said the city filed a federal lawsuit against Houston Plains All American to recover cleanup costs that the city claimed stemmed from a crude oil spill originating from a company-owned pipeline in Santa Barbara County caused “tar balls” to appear on Long Beach’s shoreline in June 2015. The oily globules also showed up on South Bay beaches.

Parkin said a settlement is in the works that is expected to result in Long Beach receiving $15,000. The city spent about $18,000 to clean up the beaches after the tar ball incident.

Plains All American could not be reached immediately for comment.

Seal Beach Marine Safety Captain Joe Bailey said any sewage spill-related costs for his city are unknown as of Wednesday. His department likely saved on labor costs, since fewer lifeguards are needed to keep on eye on city beaches while the ocean is off-limits.

Bailey also observed, however, that shutting down the beaches and having fewer visitors venturing to the city’s shoreline may create an economic cost for Seal Beach. He said the number of beachgoers at Seal Beach appeared to be about a quarter of the amount of people who would typically congregate there on a July day.

“There’s some people on the sand, but not many, and obviously nobody’s in the water,” he said.

Staff writer Tim Grobaty and City News Service contributed to this report