More Southland Beaches Off Limits Following Sewage Spill In Carson
CARSON (CBSLA) — More Southland beaches have been added to an "off limits" list as a result of a sewage spill in Carson last week.
The spill resulted in seven beaches now being closed. The two most recent additions include Surfside Beach and Sunset Beach. Prior closures include Cabrillo, Point Fermin, White Point, Royal Palms, and Rancho Palos Verdes' beaches.
More than 8-million gallons of untreated sewage spilled into the Dominguez Channel last Thursday. Murky, brown water also poured into several neighborhoods.
"I couldn't sleep in my bedroom. I had to go into another room on the backside to sleep. It was all in my house," said Najah Najiy, a neighbor. "Headaches, nausea, this is unexpected."
Los Angeles County Sanitation officials say they are still trying to determine what caused the sewage spill. Crews managed to stop the leak late Friday night. A spokesperson for the department said they were aware the four-foot diameter was old and that a replacement sewer was under construction at the time of the leak.
"We really have to investigate further. This is an older sewer. This is installed in the 1960s. We have a program to monitor the condition of the sewers in our system. This is something that we knew was near the end of its life," Bryan Langpap of the LA County Sanitation District.
The LACSD posted an updated statement on the incident on their website on Sunday evening, which can be viewed in full here.
Part of the statement, disclosed that while cleanup is ongoing, they are nearly finished cleaning the debris in the area of the spill and that a series of tests were conducted,
"The night the spill began, monitoring for hydrogen sulfide was completed near the spill and none was detected. The Air Quality Management District has two air quality monitoring stations in the area. A comparison of hydrogen sulfide levels for two weeks before the spill versus after the spill shows no difference—levels range from about 0.5 to 6 parts per billion.
Work is continuing around the clock to excavate and repair the broken sewer. Nearly all debris has been removed. We are now trying to complete a video inspection of the sewer downstream of the collapse to assess whether that segment of sewer is safe for flow. If safe, we will restore flow to the sewer.
We continue to work towards a permanent repair. On Friday, we placed orders for piping that will be used to "slip-line" the existing sewer. Slip-lining involves placing a 42-inch pipe within the existing 48-inch sewer, which will provide a new, corrosion-resistant pipe to carry the sewage. We are expecting the 42-inch pipe to be delivered later this week and the permanent repair would then begin. Once the permanent repair is done, the area can be restored including reopening the 110 offramp lanes."
While the recovery continues, there is no official indication as to when the several beaches that have been closed will reopen.
