The Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant. Photo: Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office
Following two weeks of public inquiries, inspections, and temporary beach closures due to a 17-million gallon sewage spill from Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant into the Santa Monica Bay, the Los Angeles Times is reporting the damaged plant continues to release “millions of gallons of partially treated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.”
The initial spill happened on Sunday, July 11, with the public being made aware the following day, prompting the closure of four miles of beaches from nearby El Segundo north to the Dockweiler RV Park. By Wednesday the L.A. County Department of Public Health declared water samples had met state standards for acceptable water quality and the same beaches were reopened to the public.
Testing has continued in the area but the department claimed a link between the spill and elevated bacteria levels reported on July 28 was “unlikely” due to the two-week gap since the spill. A new warning was issued to the public but no beaches were closed.
The LA Times report Friday now says the plant has actually been in violation of its environmental permit since July 19, violating multiple state and federal water pollution limits since the original spill.
“Sanitation officials said in emails that the facility has exceeded levels for solid particles in the wastewater as well as levels for biological oxygen demand and turbidity, or water clarity, all of which are used to measure the degree of organic pollution during the treatment process,” they wrote.
“We are shocked that LASAN has continued to release inadequately treated sewage into the Bay. It’s been two weeks since the 17-million gallon sewage spill, and we are only now learning that the plant is not able to fully treat sewage,” Heal the Bay CEO, Shelley Luce, told The Inertia Friday.
Now the water board has ordered Hyperion to conduct daily offshore testing and provide daily status reports on its equipment repairs and water quality until it is back to resuming normal operations, which officials with the plant say could take weeks.
“LASAN should have notified the public and stakeholders who have been tracking the spill results closely for the last two weeks,” Luce added. “We don’t know if LASAN has increased monitoring to assess the impacts of the partially treated discharge – that needed to start immediately – and going forward we need transparency in order to ensure appropriate actions are taking place to assess impacts, protect people and wildlife, and pursue fines and mitigation measures to the maximum extent.”
