Sewage spills prompt Long Beach, San Pedro beach closures

All beaches in Long Beach and Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro are closed to swimmers and surfers Tuesday due to sewage spills that may have poured millions of gallons of contaminated material in the ocean.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced Monday afternoon that about 1 million gallons of sewage had discharged occurred at an unspecified location around 6 a.m., sending untreated sewage into the Dominguez Channel, which leads to the area near Cabrillo Beach. The sewage flow was eventually halted.

The circumstances of the sewage discharge were not immediately known.

As a result, health officials declared the ocean water at Cabrillo Beach off-limits until bacteria levels return to acceptable levels.

Later in the day, however, Long Beach health officials announced that the spill into the Dominguez Channel may have involved as many as 5 million gallons. As a result, Long Beach issued a water closure order for all beaches.

Long Beach officials said an additional spill in Commerce also occurred Monday, involving another 40,000 gallons of sewage that flowed into the Los Angeles River and ultimately the ocean.

Health officials had already issued a warning for people to avoid all ocean water in the county due to bacterial runoff from the rain storm.

Updated Los Angeles County beach closure information is available by calling 800-525-5662 or online at publichealth.lacounty.gov/beach/. Long Beach recreational beach water quality information is available at 562-570-4199 or longbeach.gov/beachwaterquality.

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