Pump Failure Spills Sewage Into River

Between 80,000 and 200,000 gallons of raw sewage entered the Los Angeles River and adjacent streets near Universal City, officials said Thursday, prompting the county Department of Health Services to issue a warning to stay away from the waterway for 48 hours.

The raw sewage was released when a sewage pump failed north of Universal City, causing the waste to be released onto area streets and eventually enter the river through storm drains, officials said.

Although the Department of Health Services issued the warning and asked residents to avoid equestrian and bicycle river crossings near Victory and Los Feliz boulevards, officials said they think the contamination may already be diluted.

“There’s about 40 million gallons a day of pretty clean water that goes into the river, and it should be enough to take care of the problem,” said Jack Petralia, director of environmental protection at the department. The remnants of the spill on the streets were covered with dry powder chlorine, Petralia said.

Several county and city departments responded to the scene about 8:30 a.m. Thursday and had the spill under control a short time later, Petralia said.