San Diego

A 300-yard stretch of Mission Bay just east of Crown Point was ordered closed to swimmers for several days after 2,250 gallons of sewage spilled into the bay Wednesday, the county Health Department reported. The spill was blamed on tree roots blocking a sewage line.

The spill occurred about 6:30 a.m. when a sewage line at Academy Place and Law Street overflowed into a slough leading to the bay.

The “small spill,” which was stopped at 8 a.m., will bar swimmers from the area for several days because “there is not a lot of water turnover,” said Cheri Eir, spokeswoman for the health department.

There have been more than 220 sewage spills since the beginning of the year, said Larry Aker, assistant deputy director for the department’s environmental health division.