Orange County Beaches Reopen After Sewage Spill

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Swimmers and surfers had a narrow window to frolic in the waves as bacteria levels at most Orange County Beaches returned to normal Monday after last week's storm runoff and sewage spill triggered beach closures. However another storm moving in Wednesday is likely to start the cycle all over again.

According to the Orange County Health Care Agency, bacteria levels were back to healthy levels everywhere but portions of Seal Beach and parts of Newport Bay, which continued to exceed state health standards to the point of causing potential illness.

Last week, ocean and bay areas from Pelican Point at Crystal Cove in Newport Beach to the Poche Beach interface in Dana Point and San Clemente remained off-limits for water sports as the Orange County Health Care Agency continued to monitor the effects of a raw sewage spill.

The spill of about 4 million gallons of raw sewage was due to a broken main at the Ben Brown Golf Course in Laguna Beach and was first reported at 4:40 p.m. Wednesday by the South Orange County Wastewater Authority and the City of Laguna Beach.

Orange County Health Officer Dr. Nichole Quick said the affected ocean and bay water areas had to be closed to water sports until follow-up water quality monitoring determines they meet acceptable standards.

"I want to stress the importance of avoiding contact with ocean water in the affected areas due to the danger of exposure to untreated sewage, which can be harmful and result in very serious illness with potentially severe effects," Quick said at the time..

Patch Staffer Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.