Camp still under boil-water order

More than a week after county health inspectors found bacteria in water tanks at a county-run youth probation camp in Malibu, the camp remains under a boil-water order.

None of the 100 youths or two dozen staff members at Camp David Gonzalez have been sickened by the contaminated water, according to county health and probation officials.

Tap water at Camp Gonzalez tested positive for coliform bacteria in late September, county health department and facilities management officials told the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The health department issued a boil-water order for the camp Oct. 3 after inspectors traced the bacteria to the camp’s two 500,000-gallon water tanks, built in the late 1950s.

Probation officials did not notify the boys’ parents or guardians about the order, a decision criticized Tuesday by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, whose district includes Camp Gonzalez. During the last week, workers installed devices that dumped added chlorine into the camp’s water storage tanks, which are fed treated water from the Los Virgenes Municipal Water District.

Officials said the order could be lifted as soon as today.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske