Treated-Sewage Leak Found at Encina Plant

An estimated 150,000 to 300,000 gallons a day of treated sewage has been leaking from the Encina Water Pollution Control Facility’s ocean discharge pipeline in Carlsbad, officials said Wednesday.

However, testing indicates there has been no environmental hazard from the leak, they said, which was discovered 5,500 feet offshore on Nov. 8 during an inspection of the 7,800-foot pipeline. Treated sewage from Carlsbad, Vista, Encinitas and San Marcos is discharged from the pipeline.

“It’s something that needs to be fixed, but it’s not overly a health concern at this time,” said Rich Graff, general manager of the treatment plant.

Testing along the shoreline and the leak area found no significantly higher levels of bacteria, he said, but the situation is being monitored by the county Department of Health Services and the state Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Gary Stephany, director of Environmental Health Services for the health department, said Wednesday that test results provided by the sewage plant operator show “extremely low counts. We don’t see any problem.”

He said his department is conducting independent tests, but “we don’t think there’ll be anything that comes back in our testing.”

Stephany pointed out that the facility discharges treated sewage, not raw sewage, and there is no need to close off area beaches.

According to Graff, the leak, occurring at a depth of about 95 feet, is caused by a faulty gasket seal where two sections of the pipe are joined.

Graff said he doesn’t know how long the treated sewage has been seeping because, until the recent check, that section of pipeline had not been inspected since 1984.

The 150,000 to 300,000 gallons estimated to be escaping daily is part of the average 20 million gallons of sewage discharged each day by the plant.

The plant discharges secondarily treated effluent--sewage with 85% or more of its solids removed. Graff said interim repairs will be started soon.