Sewage Spills Shut Down Orange County Beaches

LAGUNA BEACH (CBS) — Four miles of Orange County beaches remain closed Monday, and officials expect 12 miles of coastline will remain off limits to surfers and swimmers for the next few days.

Orange County officials closed Main Beach and Aliso Beach in Laguna Beach and Doheny Beach in Dana Point, according to Larry Honeybourne of the Environmental Health Division of the Orange County Health Care Agency.

Last week, county officials had 12 miles of beaches closed in South County. While the other eight miles are technically open to surfers and swimmers, health officials recommend staying away, Honeybourne said.

Meanwhile, Huntington Beach Public Works officials responded to a sewage leak that spilled about 2,000 gallons of sewage at Whitney Drive and Cascade Lane about 9 a.m. Monday.

Workers used two 40,000-pound vacuum trucks to re-route the sewage to another sewer line. The water was diverted in a flood-control channel to a sanitation district plant, so the contaminated water would not reach the beach, Deputy Fire Marshal Jeff Lopez said.

The leak has been stopped, but it was not known how long it will take to repair the sewer line, Lopez said.

Authorities also continued the closure due to mudslides of the Foothill (241) Toll Road in both directions from Route 133 to Santiago Canyon Road. The road will stay closed through at least through Wednesday.

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