One Million Gallon Sewage Spill Closes California Beach
A large sewage spill – over a million gallons – has closed Santa Barbara beaches.
Goleta and Miramar beaches were closed from, reportedly, two separate spills, which began pouring sewer water into the ocean back on February 17th.
Now, almost two weeks later, the beaches remain closed.
California beaches close after more than 1 million gallons of sewage spill into waterhttps://t.co/kPFZwCvuYE
— KTLA (@KTLA) February 27, 2024
According to a press release from the Santa Barbara County Health Department:
“A sewage spill from a pipeline was discovered on Saturday, February 17, 2024, running through the southwest corner of the Santa Barbara Airport at the terminus of runway 33 adjacent to Tecolotito Creek. Goleta West Sanitary District (“GWSD”) immediately mobilized to stop the spill within half an hour of discovery. GWSD notified all relevant parties of the spill, including the California Office of Emergency Services and the Santa Barbara County Health Department.
“The spill is under investigation. The present estimate of the volume of the spill is now believed to have been approximately 1,025,000 gallons based on current data and available information. GWSD, with the assistance of other local agencies, was able to recover and prevent discharge of approximately 75,000 gallons into the Goleta Slough. GWSD updated authorities once these new estimates were able to be determined and confirmed.”
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time an environmental disaster has struck this area. Back in 2015, at Refugio State Beach, over 100,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into the ocean, killing countless marine animals and racking up $96 million in cleanup costs.
Sewage, although gross and detrimental, is obviously less destructive than crude oil. However, over a million gallons…that’s gonna do some damage.
According to the latest report on Goleta, "the beach will remain closed until water testing confirms it is safe for the public."
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