Lake Hodges Untouched, Officials Say : No Suspects in Sewage Spill Vandalism

Police are still trying to learn who vandalized an Escondido pump station early Wednesday morning, causing about 200,000 gallons of raw sewage to flow into San Martin Creek at Kit Carson Park.

Detective Ron Israel of the Escondido Police Department said police have no suspects in the spill, which officials called one of the worst in San Diego County in recent memory.

There had been worries that the raw sewage would flow into Lake Hodges, which serves as the main storage reservoir for the Santa Fe Irrigation District and the San Dieguito Water District, which serve 45,000 people in Rancho Santa Fe, Solana Beach and Encinitas. But Escondido and county health officials found no contamination.

“We’ve received reports that none of the sewage . . . actually got into Lake Hodges,” said Kirkham Campbell, district engineer for the state Department of Health Services.

Campbell said the sewage was absorbed in a four-mile empty channel near the lake.

However, as a precautionary step, officials have closed Lake Hodges as a water source for two days while it is tested, said James Tolley, manager of the two districts that use the lake. The districts have dual water source agreements with the San Diego County Water Authority that, in the event of emergencies, allow them to use San Diego water.

As a further precaution, signs warning against drinking or swimming were posted near the lake, officials said.

About 3 a.m. Wednesday, a vandal or vandals apparently climbed a six-foot fence surrounding the pump station, cut a telephone wire that acts as an alarm and disabled the pump station, officials said. A compressor that pushes air into a pipe sending sewage down a pipeline was damaged, causing a backup.

By 9 a.m., city workers had repaired the system at a cost of $180,000, officials said.

City Manager Vern Hazen said the top of the fence around the pump station will be fortified with a combination of barbs and razor-sharp wire.