Bacteria warnings remain in Los Angeles a month after 17m gallon sewage spill
But health officials have lifted warnings in other areas of California coastline
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Your support makes all the difference.Swimmers have been warned to take caution when visiting a Los Angeles beach, a month after 17m gallons of raw sewage were pumped into Santa Monica Bay.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials issued an ocean water use warning on Friday after bacteria levels at Mother’s Beach in Marina Del Rey exceeded state standards.
A warning was also issued for Avalon Beach at Catalina Island, which lies southwest of Los Angeles.
The warning states that people visiting these beaches to be careful of swimming, surfing, and playing in ocean waters around discharging storm drains, creeks and rivers.
But warnings have now been lifted for Malibu Lagoon at Surfrider Beach, and also at Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica.
The warnings were put into place following the huge spill at Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa Vista on 11 July, which impacted a large stretch of the city’s beachfront.
Sanitation officials say still have no idea why the plant suffered an unexpected and overwhelming influx of sewage, which flooded half the plant.
They have said that to prevent a bigger disaster they were forced to direct the 17m gallons of raw sewage through a one-mile pipe into the Santa Monica Bay, instead of the normal five mile pipe, over a 12-hour period.
The city has hired an outside firm to cary out an investigation and prepare a report on what went wrong.
US Congressman Ted Lieu has called for an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“I’m requesting that the EPA and NOAA investigate the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant’s massive and continuing wastewater discharge into the ocean,” Mr Lieu announced on Facebook.
“This facility plays a critical role in processing wastewater in LA County and its continued problematic operation requires federal action.”
The Hyperion plant has been operating since 1894 and is the city’s oldest and largest water treatment plant.
The Department of Public Health has been criticised for not immediately telling the public about the safety issues at the beaches, which may have put swimmers and surfers at risk.
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