It's going to be a fiercely hot weekend, and coastal beaches were finally reopened to swimmers, surfers and others trying to stay cool in Long Beach, after the ocean water was tainted by a sewage spill from near downtown Los Angeles.
According to Long Beach officials, the results of two consecutive tests found that bacteria levels in the water had dropped to within acceptable levels
on Friday.
The city's coastal beaches were closed Monday afternoon following the spill that originated at a ruptured pipeline near Sixth Street and Mission Road in Boyle Heights. Sewage spilled into the Los Angeles River, which carried it to the ocean. Alamitos Bay, Colorado Lagoon and Mother's Beach remained open.
A stretch of beach was closed in Seal Beach, as well, but it reopened Thursday.
The flow of sewage from the ruptured pipe was stopped Tuesday afternoon, but not before 2.4 million gallons spilled onto area streets and into the L.A. River. Officials with the Los Angeles Department of Public Works said about 750,000 gallons of the spilled sewage had been recaptured.
Crews performed environmental cleanup work Wednesday and Thursday using pressure-washers to sanitize the streets affected by the spill. The cleanup work was done between Mission Road and Clarence Street, between Fifth and Jesse
streets.
The pipe that failed was installed in 1929.
