Saturday, June 10, 2000

For 4th Time This Year, Raw Sewage Closes Seal Beach

By SEEMA MEHTA, Times Staff Writer

A 50,000-gallon raw-sewage spill forced closure of half a mile of Seal Beach Friday, health officials said. The water between the San Gabriel River and the Seal Beach Pier is off limits to swimmers and surfers until at least Monday, said Monica Mazur, spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency. "I would recommend staying out of the water due to the fact there could be a lot of viruses or bacteria in that water," she said. Swimming in water contaminated by human waste can lead to gastrointestinal, upper respiratory, eye, ear, nose and throat infections, she said. The spill was caused by a line blockage at Beach Boulevard near Coyote Creek in La Habra. The sewage flowed into the creek, which flows into the San Gabriel River, which empties into the Pacific Ocean. Orange County Sanitation District is investigating the spill.

http://www.latimes.com/editions/orange/20000610/t000055102.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), June 10, 2000