7,500 Gallons of Sewage Flow Into Ventura Marina

As Ventura County heads into spring’s first weekend, visitors to Ventura’s marina will encounter an unwelcome sight: warning signs posting harbor waters off-limits for swimming and playing.

For the third time this year, effluent from a city wastewater-treatment plant has escaped into ocean waters, prompting the warning.

A valve malfunction allowed 7,500 gallons of partly treated sewage to flow through a storm drain into the marina Wednesday night, said Greg Morehead, utilities manager for the city.

The sewage had already been chemically treated, he said, and was at its final filtering stage when the spill occurred.

“The good news is it was a small amount and it was partially treated. . . . But it is still bad and we are taking every action we can to prevent further spills . . .,” Morehead said.

The public should avoid contact with water in the Ventura Harbor, the harbor side of Marina Park and Marina Cove beach until Sunday morning. Bacterial levels should be within safe limits by then, said Elizabeth Huff of the county’s Environmental Health Division.

Effluent spilled when a valve on a filter tank stuck open in a flushing position. An operator on duty found the tank overflowing about 10:30 p.m. and took immediate action to shut it off, Morehead said.

It is the third sewage spill since Jan. 1 at the treatment plant, located at Harbor Boulevard and Spinnaker Drive.

In January, harbor waters were posted off-limits after 900 gallons of untreated sewage polluted the marina. That spill was caused by a clogged sewer line.

Within a week, a power failure in a pumping system allowed 250,000 gallons of raw sewage to flow into the marina, again prompting warning signs.

The city will put an alarm on the tanks to more quickly alert workers when a valve failure occurs, Morehead said. It is also adding a crew to double up on maintenance of pipes and other equipment and will videotape areas of concern to head off problems.

The plant is in the midst of a $20-million retrofitting project. It has been a challenge to keep the plant operating properly during the construction, Morehead said.

“We knew we would be vulnerable because of the construction, and this is one that we missed,” he said. “It gives me a stomach ache.”

Pollution advisories have become more common since the county began a water-quality program in January. Hundreds of tests for pollution in surf have resulted in more than a dozen postings warning people to stay out of the ocean.

But there have been fewer postings than expected, meaning that beaches along the county’s 42-mile coast have been open far more often than they have been closed.