Sewage, Dirty Needles Prompt Beach Closure

Dockweiler State Beach has been closed until further notice after medical waste from a sewer pipe began washing up on the beach, officials announced tonight.

Water at the beach also showed excessive levels of bacteria, while sanitary waste items and hypodermic needles had also washed ashore, officials said.

The closure was announced at 6:20 p.m.

The medical and other waste had been discharged from the Hyperion Treatment Plant, according to Heal the Bay, an environmental activist and water monitoring group.

The pipeline that would ordinarily discharge the treated waste five miles offshore was being repaired, Tonya Durrell of Hyperion said.

That pipeline and a pump at the Hyperion plant are both being repaired, with the waste diverted to a temporary pipe that discharges a mile offshore while the five-to-six week repair project continues.

The Los Angeles County Department of Sanitation also warned beachgoers to avoid the water at Mothers Beach in Marina del Rey and Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades.

City News Service; Photos Wikimedia Commons