OAN’s Abril Elfi
3:40 PM – Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Approximately eight million gallons of raw sewage has spilled into the Dominguez Channel that flows through Southern California.
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Health officials have warned residents to stay away from coastal waters as the non-stop rainfall has prompted the massive spill onto Los Angeles County’s streets and nearby beaches.
L.A. County Sanitation District spokesman Bryan Langpap said that the rainfall was anywhere from 6-to-12 inches, causing the overflow of raw sewage.
“The problem has been an extremely unusual amount of rainwater leaking into the county sewer system causing more flow than some sewer pipelines can handle,” Langpap said.
“On Tuesday, manhole covers around 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles were breached by an outpouring of sewage,” the New York Post reported.
The solid waste was dumped into Compton Creek, which empties into the Los Angeles River and terminates at Cabrillo Beach and the Dominguez Channel.
Public Health officials later sent out a warning, stating that residents should avoid L.A. County beaches at Callibrillo Beach in San Pedro. They also stated that they are currently testing waters off Cabrillo Beach for bacteria, which usually survive in saltwater for up to three days and can cause diarrhea, among other health issues.
“Water contact during a rain advisory may cause illness, especially in children, the elderly and susceptible people,” Public Health officials said. “Bacteria levels may take 72 hours or more to return to normal after heavy rainfall.
“At all times, beach users are cautioned to avoid water contact near flowing creeks and storm drains.”
On Wednesday afternoon, around 2.5 million people in the L.A. area were still under flash flood warnings.
So far, nine people have died as a cause of the storms throughout Southern California.
13 houses and buildings in Los Angeles were “red tagged,” or in danger of collapsing, out of the 520 mudslide cases reported.
On Monday, the L.A. Fire Department was even forced to use a helicopter in order to rescue a man who jumped into the Los Angeles River to save his dog.
City officials reported that over 7 billion gallons of stormwater has been captured in Los Angeles alone since the beginning of Sunday’s storm event.
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