LAGUNA BEACH : Small Sewage Leak Turns Into Mystery
More than 2,000 gallons of raw sewage oozed its way onto the Aliso Creek Golf Course on Tuesday afternoon, but work crews controlled it without damage, officials said.
Water officials called the discharge from an underground pipe “a small leak” and said it represented a minimal health risk. The spill did not reach Aliso Creek, which discharges into the ocean, officials said.
“It’s mostly been absorbed by the ground,” said Michael Dunbar, South County Water District assistant general manager. “You’d have to actually drink some before there would be any health risk.”
Just after 3 p.m., a South County Water District employee noticed water bubbling from the ground in a back portion of the course between the fifth and sixth holes, Dunbar said.
“At first he thought it was a leak from the sprinkler pipe,” he said, but golf course maintenance crews soon discovered the sewage, which is transported through the area inside fiberglass pipes leading to a treatment plant.
Tuesday’s spill was the first reported problem with the pipe, which was installed during the 1970s, Dunbar said. He said the pipe would be inspected to see if corrosion caused the problem.
Despite the leaking sewage, Violet Brown, owner of the golf course, said no golfers had complained of odors.
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