Pollution From Spill Moves North to Foul Ocean Beach : Sewage: Heavy surf continues to delay repair work on broken pipeline. A Long Beach firm has been hired to make the new sections.

Fueled by recent rains, dangerously high bacterial counts surfaced Wednesday as far north as Ocean Beach, and San Diego’s coastline remained closed from the international border to the San Diego River, authorities said.

More rain and heavy surf were predicted today, once again delaying repairs to the outfall pipe that ruptured Feb. 2, resulting in 180 million gallons a day of partially treated sewage being spewed into the ocean off Point Loma.

City officials announced Wednesday that Ameron Corp. of Long Beach has been hired to manufacture 25 new sections of reinforced concrete pipe at a cost of $1 million. The total repair cost is not expected to exceed $10 million, officials said.

City Manager Jack McGrory said the 100-by-300-foot barge that was stationed at the rupture site last Friday, only to retreat to shore when buffeted by ocean swells, will anchor once again sometime Friday, weather permitting.

He said city officials have met with Tijuana authorities about cleaning out the binational pump station that had to be shut down recently, sending 12 to 13 million gallons a day of raw sewage mingling with the contaminated runoff from San Diego.

Despite the ongoing flow from Tijuana, Imperial Beach recorded lower counts of fecal coliform bacteria Wednesday, as ocean currents kept the river of contamination heading north.

City sampling stations recorded counts 63 times the legal limit at the site of the Point Loma spill, occurring three-quarters of a mile offshore at a depth of 35 feet. The outfall pipe normally discharges the effluent 2.2 miles offshore at a depth of 220 feet.

Coliform counts of 18,000 were recorded Wednesday at the tip of Point Loma--1,000 coliform per 100 milliliters of water is the legal limit--with readings of 16,000 posted at the Silver Strand. Ladera Street in Ocean Beach recorded a count of 5,600; Sunset Cliffs posted 2,200.

Ruth Covill, a spokeswoman for the San Diego County Department of Health Services, said Wednesday’s readings were the highest yet posted north of the spill, but since the San Diego River “tends to act as a natural buffer, there’s no reason to extend the quarantine.”

She said bacterial counts in Mission Beach, just north of the river, were as low as 20, “which shows the kind of barrier the river represents.”

At a Wednesday news conference, city officials said that, although 22 sections of the 9-foot-diameter pipe are known to be damaged, 25 have been ordered. Each section of the outfall pipe is 25 feet long and weighs 30 tons.

City Manager McGrory said the new pipe, like the sections that broke apart, is made of reinforced concrete and will take three weeks to manufacture to the city’s specifications.

McGrory noted that 71% of the 98 people employed in the repair effort are San Diego residents working for the 29 local firms hired as subcontractors.

In response to recommendations from the federal Environmental Protection Agency--which gave the city $5.5 million of the $10 million needed in repairs--local officials are considering disinfecting the region’s effluent with sodium hypochlorite, McGrory said.

Sodium hypochlorite, a powdery substance similar to the disinfectant used in swimming pools, is thought to be less harmful than chlorine, which the city does not want to use, according to Deputy City Manager Roger Frauenfelder.

In response to the EPA’s directive, Frauenfelder said, the city will have its sodium hypochlorite disinfection plan in place by Monday, but it “will not be put into operation until so directed.”

City officials said they remain concerned about image, but Reint Reinders, president of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Wednesday that the city has not felt any impact from tourists wanting to cancel trips to San Diego.

“I’ve read in the media that named and unnamed sources say (the sewage spill) has had an impact on conventions and business, but I’m telling you it has not,” Reinders said at the news conference. “We do get calls . . . I hear smatterings of information from people wanting to know if this affects their trip. But it will not affect their trip, as you all know.

“This is a localized problem. February is not a time when people come to go to the beaches. No one really goes into the water, so I’m telling them it won’t affect their visit.”

The Spill at a Glance

Days: 12

Amount: Daily, an estimated 180 million gallons of partially treated sewage.

Cumulative: 2.16 billion gallons.

Tijuana spill: Since last Thursday, 12 million to 13 million gallons a day of raw sewage.

Coastline closed: 20 miles, from the mouth of the Tijuana River, near the international border, to the mouth of the San Diego River in Ocean Beach.

Status of repairs: A deadline of April 4 for completion of repairs was set Tuesday. The massive repair barge is docked on Navy property until Friday after heavy surf Sunday night forced it back to shore. When repairs resume, divers will continue photographing the 22 sections of pipe that have come apart. Ballast rock from Santa Catalina Island will be used to stabilize undamaged sections of pipe.

A pumping station in Tijuana might be fixed by the end of the week. It will then send the raw sewage to the Point Loma plant for treatment.

On Wednesday, the city hired a Long Beach firm to manufacture 25 new sections of the reinforced concrete pipe, which is 9 feet in diameter. Each section is 25 feet long and weighs 30 tons.

Pipeline repair cost estimate: $10 million.