Beach Is Reopened After Sewage Leak

Swimmers returned to Doheny State Beach on Monday afternoon with the reopening of a section of beach closed for three days because of a sewage leak.

The closed section was declared open at 4:15 p.m. Monday by the Orange County Health Care Agency after tests showed the water was safe.

“The numbers look acceptable down there, so we’ve gone ahead and reopened the beach,” said Larry Honeybourne, the agency’s water-quality chief.

Doheny was the latest Orange County beach affected by a string of three unrelated sewer-line breaks. In all, four beaches in eight days were partially or completely closed because of sewage leaks, forcing swimmers and surfers to seek out other beaches just as summer vacation got underway.

As of Monday evening, the no-swimming signs remained at only one beach, Bolsa Chica State Beach, where about two-thirds of the shore remains closed after dozens of leaks were detected in a 2 1/2-mile underground sewer line serving the beach restrooms.

The Doheny closing was ordered Friday after the discovery that a private sewer line serving a mobile-home park was leaking into San Juan Creek near the state beach.

The leak has been halted and a temporary bypass built to link Dana Point Marina Mobile Home Estates with a nearby treatment plant, Honeybourne said.