Polluted Drain Runoff Forces Beach Closure

A stretch of Santa Monica coastline more than a mile long was closed Wednesday after polluted runoff from the troubled Pico-Kenter storm drain sent bacterial levels soaring in the ocean water.

Yellow signs closing the beach and ordering swimmers to avoid water contact were posted from the Santa Monica Pier south to Ashland Avenue. Jack Petralia, director of the Bureau of Environmental Protection for the county Department of Health Services, said the closure is likely to remain in effect for several days until bacterial levels, now far above state and federal standards, return to normal levels. Petralia said “a real slug of junk” collected in the drain at the foot of Pico Boulevard and was released into the surf.

Construction crews were working at the scene to install a new pipeline when the pollution occurred. The pipeline eventually will carry runoff that now flows across the beach to a discharge point 200 yards offshore.