Bacteria Levels Close Beaches

Five miles of beaches were closed Saturday, frustrating crowds on one of the hottest days of the summer, because of high bacteria levels entering the ocean from Ballona Creek near Playa del Rey, Los Angeles County officials said.

County health officers ordered beaches closed from Playa del Rey north to Venice, just as throngs were trying to escape high humidity and temperatures that rose above 100 in some areas, said Capt. Bob Buchanan, a spokesman for county lifeguards. Beaches were closed at midmorning Saturday and are expected to remain closed today.

Jack Petralia, director of environmental protection for the county health department, said the cause of the high bacteria readings was still being investigated.

Ballona Creek, one of Los Angeles’ biggest storm drains, is occasionally used for emergency overflows of sewage from nearby treatment facilities, but the high bacteria counts appeared to originate inland of those points, he said.

Petralia said it was unknown if a leaking sewage line or other source upstream is causing the problem.