Costa Mesa : Main Sewer Line Leak Causes Beach Closure

A leak in a main sewer line sent raw sewage through a pavement crack on Adams Avenue in Costa Mesa, flushing about 200,000 gallons of sewage through the Greenville-Banning Channel and into the ocean, officials said.

The break caused officials to block eastbound traffic on Adams Avenue from Brookhurst Street in Huntington Beach to Shantar Drive in Costa Mesa until late Friday afternoon. Officials also closed a beach area from the mouth of the Santa Ana River to about 1,000 feet south in Newport Beach.

The Costa Mesa Sanitary District was notified of the leak about 7:45 p.m. Thursday, according to Bob Brock, assistant city engineer. “The sewage was coming out of a crack in the pavement because of the break in the pipe. The line runs under pressure and forced the leak onto the pavement,” he said.

The leak was repaired and eastbound lanes of Adams Avenue were reopened by about 4 p.m.

Bob Merryman, an environmental health official, said the waste did not contaminate the water in Huntington Beach. However, the section of the Newport Beach strand will be closed at least through Monday.