LAGUNA BEACH : Sewage Spill Closes Part of Aliso Beach

A 200-foot section of Aliso Beach was closed Monday morning after an estimated 1,000 gallons of raw sewage from a treatment plant spilled into Aliso Creek.

The spill occurred about 11:20 a.m. when a rotating screen broke at the South Coast Water District’s Coastal Treatment Plant, said Michael Dunbar, the district’s general manager. The plant is in Aliso Canyon about a mile upstream from the beach and Pacific Coast Highway.

Dunbar said the broken screen was quickly discovered by workmen and replaced, but not before the raw sewage spilled into the creek. The spill was unrelated to Monday’s earthquake, Dunbar said.

“It was one of those things where a piece of equipment broke. But it was fortunate it happened when it did because it was seen right away and we had people right there to fix it,” Dunbar said.

Dunbar said that the beach was closed as a precautionary measure and that samples of ocean water were taken for testing. Because of the holiday Monday, it will probably be Wednesday before test results are available and the beach possibly can be reopened, Dunbar said.

The treatment plant where the break occurred was built in the 1950s but was expanded in 1982, Dunbar said. The plant provides sewage treatment for the South Coast Water District, the city of Laguna Beach and the Emerald Bay Services District.