Officials are still investigating what prompted an emergency dump of 17 million gallons of sewage into Santa Monica Bay on Sunday.
An approximate 1- to 2-mile stretch of the Los Angeles coastline is now closed as a health precaution while ongoing water tests are underway, CNN reported.
The source of the spill has been identified as the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant, the area’s oldest and largest wastewater treatment plant.
Beaches will reopen as soon as results reveal safe levels of bacteria in the water, the LA County Department of Public Health said in a statement issued Monday.
“Beaches from El Segundo to the Dockweiler RV Park are closed for swimming,” added LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn on Twitter.
The dump was, in fact, an emergency measure triggered by an overflow at Hyperion. According to a separate statement by LA Sanitation & Environment, the wastewater facility “became inundated with overwhelming quantities of debris,” prompting the plant’s “relief system” — designed to automatically discharge excess untreated sewage into a 1-mile “outfall” in the bay.
The 17 million gallons of sewage represent 6% of the city’s “daily load,” the statement continued, and were released “to prevent the plant from going completely offline and discharging much more raw sewage.”
Hyperion has resumed standard operations as of Monday as water-quality testing is ongoing.
“At this time, all flow is being treated through its standard treatment processes,” the department said.