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# Massive sewage spill raises local concerns
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/massive-sewage-spill-raises-local-concerns/
- Published: 2006-01-20T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T17:04:00.000Z
- Author: Ryan Hyatt
- Tags: Environment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Santa Monica’s beaches expected to remain open*

Local officials said the sewer spill which devastated South Bay this week would be less likely to happen in Santa Monica.

Meanwhile, Santa Monica environmentalists said it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

“Talking to people this week, their number one comment is, ‘You must feel like you’re living in the ’80s again,’” said Mark Gold, director for Heal the Bay, an environmental group committed to cleaning up the coasts. “These are the kind of spills we saw all too frequently then, and five days after this one, there’s still no explanation for what happened.

“It’s unbelievable, but it’s the tip of the iceberg for people to see how big of an infrastructure problem we have.”

> “It’s unbelievable, but it’s the tip of the iceberg for people to see how big of an infrastructure problem we have.”

Heal they Bay was largely formed in response to sewer spills similar to that which occurred on Sunday near Manhattan Beach, which officials are describing as the most devastating in a decade. Los Angeles County sanitation officials said they are unable to explain a chain of failures that led to 2 million gallons of untreated sewage spewing out of manhole covers and some residential pipes on Sunday, after a power failure shut down a pumping station in Manhattan Beach, reports said.

The station, which is supposed to pump raw sewage to a treatment station in Carson, has connections to Southern California Edison lines as well as a back-up generator — all of which failed.

In addition, alarm systems at 21 pumping stations were not communicating with the central alarm center, according to reports. Ultimately, about 100,000 gallons of sewage flowed into the Pacific Ocean.

Judy Franz, City Hall spokeswoman, said toxicity levels at Santa Monica beach continue to be monitored, but it doesn’t appear there has been contamination, nor is there expected to be any in coming days.

“This spill did not affect Santa Monica Beach, as ocean current in the Bay along the coast generally flows south,” Franz said. “Our beach is monitored twice daily and if any elevations occur, the beach would be posted or closed depending on the bacterial reading, which has not been needed in this case.”

Franz said both Santa Monica’s and LA’s sewage goes to the Hyperion treatment plant, which has been in operation since the 1950s.

Santa Monica has one pump — the Moss Avenue pumping station — constructed three years ago in light of damage from the Northridge earthquake.

Because of the upgrade, Franz said a sewage failure along the lines of what happened in Manhattan Beach would be unlikely.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 20, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/012006.pdf?ref=smdp.com)