Sewage Backs Up Into Newport Homes, Spills Into Bay

A malfunction at a pump station early Thursday caused raw sewage to back up into at least 16 expensive homes, causing thousands of dollars in damage to flooring, rugs and furniture, authorities said.

By the time the pump station was working again, about 6,000 gallons of sewage had poured into the bay near Lido Isle and backed up through the plumbing systems of more than a dozen homes on Beacon Bay, Harbor Island Drive and Bayside Drive.

A resident of Harbor Island noticed sewage backing up in her bathroom about 5:15 a.m. and notified city firefighters, who discovered that the pump station on Bayside Drive was not working.

“It’s an automatic system, and it failed to operate,” Fire Marshal Dennis Lockard said. “The city had to manually turn on the pump station.”

Many residents spent the day wading in the contaminated water to move their valuables to higher ground. Cleaning crews were called in to pump out the sewage and remove soaked carpets and vinyl flooring.

Donna Anderson, who spent 10 months redecorating her home near the Balboa Yacht Basin two years ago, was awakened about 4 a.m. Thursday by “the smell of waste” and discovered a few inches of sewage water on her bedroom floor.

She hastily rolled up an area rug in the living room and moved one of her favorite chairs up a few steps to a dining room. Anderson took shoes and other items on the floor and put them on counters and tables. Towels were strategically placed to prevent water from encroaching on the furniture, but it all was to no avail, she said.

“It’s just much worse than I realized,” said Anderson, who wore yellow rain boots while walking in her home. “My husband is going to be devastated when he gets home.”

County sanitation and health representatives visited every home affected by the spill, advising some residents to professionally decontaminate their dwelling. Anderson learned she had to throw away about 40 pairs of shoes and possibly replace her marble living room floor.

Insurance adjusters for the county’s Sanitation District interviewed the homeowners and took photos of the damage.

Residents were not evacuated but were told to stay away from contaminated areas, mostly bathrooms, until the problem was cleaned up. Firefighters, the county’s hazardous materials unit and health officials monitored the spill, which angered some residents and caused minor property damage, authorities said.

“But since the area is somewhat of an exclusive area,” Lockard said, “minimal damages can be quite expensive.”

Authorities did not have an estimate on damage but residents speculated it to be in the thousands of dollars.

The pump failure also caused about 6,000 gallons of raw sewage to spill into the bay between Harbor Island and Lido Isle, temporarily closing that area, fire officials said.

The spill is not storm-related, said Nancy Wheatley, technical services director for the Sanitation District.

Doris Fishman, who was at her other home in Beverly Hills when the spill occurred, said she received a call from her neighbor Thursday morning. She arrived at a home that “smells very, very bad.”

“I have all the windows open and I’m waiting for the disinfection company to get here,” Fishman said. “They tell me I can’t touch a thing.”

Health officials said raw sewage can contain bacteria such as E. coli, which can cause diarrhea.

“Bacteria are the biggest problem,” Monica Mazur, a county environmental health specialist, said. “But it’s minimal as long as people stay away from it.”