Popular beaches remain closed along the Long Beach coast Tuesday after officials said an estimated 7,500 gallons of sewage spilled into Alamitos Bay early Monday.
Several recreational swimming areas around Belmont Shore and Naples were affected by the leak and remain closed to the public, pending the outcome of water quality tests, said Nelson Kerr, Long Beach environmental health bureau manager.
“The best-case scenario for opening would be by midmorning (today), because we have to have two consecutive clean tests,” Kerr said.
It takes about 24 hours to get results of the tests.
The first round of results, released Tuesday afternoon, show elevated levels of enterococcus bacteria — nearly double the allowable level — in the waters around 56th Place, Kerr said, explaining the fecal bacteria indicates the presence of sewage in the water.
However, water samples taken at Colorado Lagoon, Marine Stadium, Mother’s Beach and Bayshore Beach came back with very low levels of bacteria, Kerr said.
A second round of samples were taken Tuesday, with results expected today around noon.
Kerr said officials hope to reopen a significant portion of the beaches today, should the city’s health officer determine it’s safe to do so.
“We’ll be watching it like a hawk,” he said. “We want to open those beaches as soon as we can.”
Long Beach Fire Department officials on Monday discovered what appeared to be wastewater leaking from a seawall along Marina Drive at about 7 a.m., according to a city announcement. Kerr said the leak was contained at 1 p.m., and during that time officials estimate 7,500 gallons of sewage was discharged into the bay.
He said officials posted signs at the local beaches by late morning Monday, however the city did not send a press release until after 6 p.m. When asked about the delay in notifying the public, Kerr said the city could not confirm immediately whether it was sewage in the water.
“Unfortunately, (the notice) was later than it could have been,” he said. The city posted an alert on the social media site NextDoor close to 7 p.m. Monday.
Several children were in the water late Monday night, and despite numerous signs posted, parents did not know about the spill. The waters were mostly empty on Tuesday morning, except for a few paddleboarders.