Anaheim Spill Soils Section of Seal Beach

As Seal Beach gears up for Fourth of July revelers--and their cash--a sewage spill 10 miles away has forced health officials to close a quarter-mile of the city’s beach.

An 8,200-gallon sewage spill in Anaheim, reported anonymously to the county Health Care Agency on Monday morning, wound its way down the San Gabriel River--which empties into the ocean at Seal Beach. It was the 26th spill this year that has forced health officials to close a beach in Orange County.

“It’s very disappointing--not just the impact to the beach itself, but the impact to public perception,” said Seal Beach Councilman Shawn Boyd. “They don’t care if it’s 10 feet or 10 miles. You associate the word ‘spill’ with the city, and it causes major concerns. It’s not good for business, and it’s not good for the city as a whole.”

The spill may have occurred as early as last weekend, said Larry Honeybourne, program chief of the health agency’s water quality section. The spill occurred because a line was blocked at an apartment complex in the 100 block of South Western Avenue in Anaheim, he said.

The raw human waste flowed into the storm-drain system, which empties into Carbon Creek, a tributary of Coyote Creek, which drains into the San Gabriel River.

A quarter-mile of beach south of the river will be closed at least through Thursday, health officials said. However, most of the city’s coastline remains open to the public.

High bacteria counts prompted the county health agency to also advise beach-goers to avoid Harbor Patrol Beach, 19th Street Beach and Abalone Avenue Beach in Newport Bay; Grant Street at Newport Slough and Lancaster Street at Newport Slough in Newport Beach; and Doheny State Beach from San Juan Creek to 150 feet past lifeguard tower 7 in Dana Point, as well as 500 feet up and down the coast from Poche Creek at Poche Beach.

Long-term postings because of urban runoff remain in effect in parts of Newport Bay, Dana Point Harbor and Doheny State Beach.

Seal Beach’s coastline regularly suffers the wrath of inland sewage spills, causing frustration among city officials.

“We’ve done everything we can to make sure our backyard is clean before we point fingers to blame anyone else,” Boyd said. “It doesn’t affect Disneyland, that’s for sure. It affects people using the beach on a holiday. It’s not like Seal Beach is for locals only--people come from all over.”