Sarah Rosner
Staff Writer
If you thought your concerns were limited to earthquakes, floods, tsunamis and mudslides, get ready to worry about another disaster that’s not nearly as natural: raw sewage.
Raw sewage is flowing into Malibu Creek as a result of a broken sewer main at the Tapia Treatment Facility near Malibu Canyon, according to a warning issued Wednesday morning by the Surfrider Foundation. The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District is working to install a bypass, but it may take days to resolve the problem.
The flow, which empties out into the Malibu Lagoon, eventually reaches the popular Surfrider Beach.
The Malibu Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit environmental organization, has since issued warnings and notices urging members and surfers to stay out of the water.
People should stay out of the affected waters for up to a week, said Nancy Hastings, the group’s Southern California field coordinator.
“We strongly urge people not to go in at all until they fix the pipe,” Hastings said.
During heavy rainfall, when large amounts of run-off occur, Surfrider Foundation advises the public to wait at least 72 hours to re-enter the water.
While several Southern California counties also issue a warning after rain, many (such as Orange County) do not post the warnings on beaches.
The break, which occurred around 9 a.m., is attributed to the heavy rains that have recently battered the area, increasing water flows in the sewer system and land-slippage around the pipe.
Los Angeles has already received 22.35 inches of rain for the season, which is more than four times the average rain fall for the period between July and January.
According to a statement issued by the National Weather Service on Tuesday, the period between Dec. 27 and Jan. 10 have been the wettest 15 consecutive days in Los Angeles since record-keeping started in 1877.
Dr. Karen Martin, a professor of Marine Biology at Pepperdine, cautions swimmers and surfers after any rainfall.
“The rainstorms always have an effect,” Martin said. “It’s a public health issue.”
Waters that are polluted by untreated sewage may contain enteric pathogens, disease-causing organisms that live in the human intestine.
These pathogens along with other viruses can cause a number of illnesses when they come in contact with a human orifice. These infirmities may include hepatitis, respiratory illness and ear, nose and throat infections.
One of the more common ailments is gastroenteritis, a flu-like affliction with symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhea, stomachache, nausea and headache.
In order to assess the swimming risk, water quality in Malibu is tested daily by the Los Angeles County Water Department.
“Normally you would want to wait until the bacterial count in the water goes back below a certain amount,” Martin said.
01-13-2005