Beach Between El Segundo, Venice Reopened After Tests
A four-mile stretch of beach between Venice and Imperial Highway in El Segundo was reopened at noon Wednesday after tests showed no evidence of bacterial contamination from a sewage spill, Los Angeles county health officials said.
“The test results came back and there was no indication of any bacterial problem,” said Toby Staheli, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Health Services.
The beaches were closed at 9 a.m. Tuesday, 15 hours after an electrical power failure caused an estimated 10,000 gallons of sewage to escape from an Inglewood pumping station into a flood control channel near the San Diego Freeway, said John Redner, the county’s sewer superintendent.
Sandbagging contained nearly all of the effluent in the Centinela flood control channel and prevented leakage of all but a small amount into Ballona Creek, which flows into the ocean, Redner said.
Ironically, a new auxiliary electrical power system, designed to prevent such a mishap, arrived at the pumping station Wednesday and was expected to be in service by Friday, Redner said.
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