Laguna Spill Prompts County’s 50th Beach Closure This Year

A sewage spill forced the closure Monday of about a mile of Laguna Beach’s picturesque shoreline.

The ocean between Laguna Avenue and Bluebird Canyon Drive will remain closed until testing shows that it is safe, said Monica Mazur, spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency.

“That’s the heart of Laguna’s public beaches,” said City Councilman Wayne Baglin, who noted that the area has been busy lately despite the cold weather. “That includes the beach where I bodysurf all the time, at St. Ann’s [beach]. . . . That hits Laguna’s foremost surfing beaches.”

The 4,400-gallon spill--caused by tree roots blocking an 8-inch sewage-collector line--began around 8 a.m. at Thalia Street and Temple Hills Drive. About 6,000 gallons of raw human waste blew a cover off a manhole, flowed across at least two homeowners’ backyards, into the storm-drain system, onto the street, back into the storm-drain system and discharged on the beach at Anita Street, Baglin and Mazur said.

Workers recovered about 1,600 gallons of sewage, said assistant city manager John Pietig. He suspects tree roots were washed out of a private line into the 8-inch collector pipe, which serves about 100 residences and was last cleaned in August.

Still, “That’s a huge spill. That’s very, very frustrating,” Baglin said.

Monday’s closure is the ninth time this year that a coastal stretch of Laguna Beach has been tainted by raw sewage. It’s also the 50th time this year that an Orange County beach has been closed by a sewage spill.

Laguna Beach is one of several older coastal cities that has seen the results of a deteriorating sewer infrastructure in recent years. Last year, the city agreed to pay a state-imposed $60,000 fine for sewage spills, including some that closed beaches. The city has raised sewer rates and spent millions upgrading its system.

But some activists say that’s not enough. Roger von Butow, founder of the Clean Water Now! Coalition, said the city needs to invest more as well as react more effectively to spills.

State water officials are considering strengthening requirements for sewage agencies, cities and others. The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board is holding a public workshop on stricter measures, including stepped-up inspections and faster spill response, at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Santa Ana City Council chambers.