Peninsula beaches reopen after massive wastewater spill

UPDATE 1/22/18 5:15 p.m.: Seven beaches along the Monterey Bay are safe, according to the latest round of test results.

A massive sewage spill Friday night into Saturday morning let somewhere between 4.4 and 4.9 million gallons of wastewater went into the ocean.

County health experts said the weather is helping out a lot.

“Right now, it’s raining. There’re some heavy wave actions, so that can help dissipate the sewage that’s out there. (That’s) probably why our results are coming back pretty good right now,” said John Ramirez with Monterey County Health Department.

The wastewater did not go through any filter systems and could contain bacteria like E Coli and more.

“There’re also viruses,” Ramirez said. “People at home may discharge medications, any of that stuff. So there’s potential for the wastewater to have multiple things. That then goes to the ocean is what cause it to be a health hazard.”

Ramirez said those who ignored closure signs over the weekend could be at risk.

“Some of the people may be affected by eye infections, ear infections. If they injected any of the water, (it) could lead to gastrointestinal illnesses,” Ramirez said.

Officials said, the silver lining is that Monterey One Water, the treatment plant responsible for the spill, was able to respond quickly.

On Monday, staff there were offering a more detailed explanation about the computer malfunction that led to an overflow.

“It basically was reading that everything was normal when there was a faulty issue,” said Mike McCullough with Monterey One Water. “Most of went in and was being treated but there was certain level that was overflowing. That was what went into the discharge pipe and went into the ocean.”

The hardware issue has since been fixed.

Monterey One Water could face fines from the Central Coast Regional Water Board.

In 2016, the agency paid 300 thousand dollars for a spill in Pacific Grove.

UPDATE 1/21/18 9:15p.m.: Preliminary testing for elevated levels of bacteria has come back after the massive wastewater spill in Monterey County.

General Manager of Monterey One Water says test results are looking promising, “our lab personnel went out with moss Landing Marine Laboratory and collected at various depths about 11 samples. They test for a number of bacteria and all of those tests came back below required limits on the California ocean plan.”

Testing was also done at 5 different beaches in Monterey County, only one test came back with a 4% increase in bacteria. Seven other samples were taken again on Sunday, those test results will be available on Monday.

As a precaution beaches were immediately closed following the spill. Those beaches include Carmel Beach at Ocean Avenue, Monterey Municipal Beach, Lover’s Point, the Beach at Monterey State Beach, San Carlos Beach, the beach at Sunset Drive at Asilomar, the beach at Spanish Bay and Stillwater Cove.

Monterey One Water reports an estimated 4.4 million gallons of untreated wastewater was spilled into the Monterey Bay. Sciuto says the leak began Friday evening from an outflow pipe that normally lets out treated wastewater into the ocean. The pipe reaches two and a half miles out into the ocean off of the Marina Coastline and 130ft below the surface.

Due to a series of equipment and alarm failures the leak was not detected until early Saturday morning.
“No alarm came through to our operator who was on site at the time so there was virtually no way to know it the control room what was happening because of these series of basically computer and communication failures in our equipment,” says Sciuto.

According to M1W this is the first equipment failure of it’s kind in 29 years. The do have a third party coming in to inspect the failure.

Beaches will remain closed until more samples indicate that the water is again safe for contact according to state guidelines.

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Monterey One Water reports an estimated 4.9 million gallons of untreated wastewater was spilled into the Monterey Bay. In a press released, they say an equipment control failure at the Regional Treatment Plant in Marina discharged the wastewater through their ocean outfall discharge pipe. The pipe extends out into the ocean two miles.

M1W says their staff immediately started sampling the local beaches near the spill site for elevated bacteria levels, and results and information will be posted on their website as it becomes available.

Some beaches were closed as a precaution. These include Carmel Beach at Ocean Avenue, Monterey Municipal Beach, Lover’s Point, the Beach at Monterey State Beach, San Carlos Beach, the beach at Sunset Drive at Asilomar, the beach at Spanish Bay and Stillwater Cove. All other beaches are open.

Beaches will remain closed until samples indicate that the water is again safe for contact according to state guidelines.