Sewage May Not Have Reached Ocean

The 18,000 gallons of raw sewage from a pipeline leak earlier this week do not appear to have reached the ocean, water testing has shown.

“Our preliminary sampling results indicate that there was no gross fecal contamination in the ocean” from the Arroyo Conejo, where a sewer line developed a leak Monday, said Elizabeth Huff, an official with the county’s Environmental Health Department.

“We’re not sure how far the sewage even got,” Huff added.

Because the ocean has tested clean in this round--final results won’t be available for weeks--officials say there is no need to close any beaches this weekend. City officials said they have not detected any environmental damage from the leak.

The leak was noticed Monday morning as crews were working on a replacement project for the sewer line, which burst during February’s heavy rains, sending 86 million gallons of raw sewage toward the ocean and closing 29 miles of beaches for days.

The recent leak was patched and encased in concrete within 2 1/2 days. The entire bottom half of the line is expected to be replaced before winter at a cost of more than $10 million.