Sewage spill closes stretch of Long Beach shoreline

Health officials on Monday, July 30, closed a stretch of the shoreline in Long Beach to beachgoers because of a spill over the weekend of 9,000 gallons of sewage.

All swimming areas west of the Belmont Pier to the Los Angeles River were closed because of potential contamination caused by the 1 p.m. spill Sunday 17 miles north of the city in Commerce, officials said.

“It appears that there was a blockage in a main sewage line that’s maintained by Los Angeles County Public Works and it was caused by tree roots,” said Nelson Kerr, Long Beach’s environmental health bureau manager.

Kerr said any potential contamination from the spill out of a manhole on Gage Avenue in Commerce likely would not have reached Long Beach waters via the L.A. River until late Sunday evening.

“When we start approaching getting close to 10,000 gallons of sewage, things get serious in terms of protecting public health, so that’s why we just wanted to take a precaution and not let folks come in through the water until we can show that it’s clean,” he said.

Two water samples have been collected and officials are waiting for test results to determine when it is safe to reopen the beaches.

The waters east of the Belmont Pier are unaffected, Kerr said.

For up-to-date beach closure information, visit longbeach.gov/beachwaterquality or call 562-570-4199.