15,000-gallon sewage leak triggers closures at two L.A. County beaches

Parts of Venice Beach and Dockweiler State Beach are closed after 15,000 gallons of sewage leaked into the ocean near Marina del Rey over the weekend, the Los Angeles County Public Health Department said.

Beachgoers are being advised to stay out of the water one mile north and one mile south of Ballona Creek until tests there over 48 hours show the water quality meets health standards. The first test was scheduled for Monday, according to the health department.

On Saturday, a broken water main pushed sand into the city sewer line, causing sewage to back up and discharge into a nearby storm drain. By the time L.A. Sanitation and Environment alerted the county health department of the issue, the sewage had been flowing for almost two hours, officials said.

Over the weekend, the boardwalk was unusually quiet, except for a few daring surfers who ignored health warnings and rode waves near the jetty, said Venice resident Scott Culbertson.

“It’s sort of heartbreaking,” Culbertson said of the empty streets. “It was hot yesterday … people wanted to come to the beach, and they wanted to bring their kids to the beach.”

It’s not just local businesses that suffer in these incidents, but marine life, Culbertson said. Ballona Creek flows through the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve, where he leads educational tours as the executive director of the nonprofit Friends of the Ballona Wetlands. Their work focuses on restoring the wetlands, where freshwater and saltwater creatures like migratory birds and fish meet and form a delicate ecosystem

“Wildlife are feeding and nesting in these waters, foraging,” said Culbertson. “They didn’t get the text alert that there was a devastating sewage leak.”

This is not the first time that Ballona Creek has been pummeled by the flow of raw sewage. In May, 14,000 gallons of waste from an unknown source spilled into the ocean, sparking closures, and the heavy rains of February brought millions of gallons of sewage into the coastal regions from discharging storm drains.

For Culbertson, the number of sewage leaks he’s seen in the 24 years he’s lived in Venice has been devastating — no matter the size. “Anytime it happens, it’s one time too many,” he said.