Laguna Beach : Parts of Beach Closed by Sewage Reopened

County health officials on Wednesday reopened parts of Aliso Beach that have been off limits to bathers for the past week because of a 900,000-gallon sewage spill, but a half-mile section remained closed.

With heavy surf and sunny weather speeding dissipation of the sewage, conditions had improved enough by the afternoon to reopen outlying areas of the mile-long quarantine, authorities said.

The area still closed to the public, a half-mile stretch fanning out from the mouth of Aliso Creek, probably will remain quarantined until at least Friday and possibly through the July 4 weekend, health officials said.

Mike Wehner, chief of the county health department’s water quality program, said a quarter-mile portion from Camel Point to Table Rock on the southeast and another quarter-mile near Treasure Island Point on the northwest were reopened in the afternoon.

But tests of seawater near the mouth of Aliso Creek indicated elevated levels of contamination as sewage still trapped in the waterway continues to flow into the surf, Wehner said.

The spill was caused when an aging, 21-inch sewage line burst June 22, causing raw effluent to cascade into Aliso Creek and flow into the sea north of the fishing pier before crews hired by the South Coast Water District repaired the line.