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About 1.5 miles of Laguna Beach’s shoreline is closed — from Treasure Island Beach to Table Rock Beach — after approximately 465,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the coastal waters.
The sewage spill was caused by a main sewer line break near Laguna Niguel Regional Park that has since been repaired, according to a Jan. 14 press release from the OC Health Care Agency.
The affected ocean water is closed for swimming, surfing and diving due to unsafe water quality. The beaches will remain closed until water quality tests meet safe, acceptable standards.
OC Supervisor Katrina Foley released a statement Tuesday afternoon warning residents of the water quality and thanking them for their cooperation in avoiding the affected areas.
“I urge Orange County residents, visitors, and tourists to heed public health experts’ warnings and continue avoiding the closed beaches in Laguna Beach while the Health Care Agency conducts water quality tests,” Foley said.
The closure comes weeks after a different sewage spill prompted beach closures in Dana Point. In early December, a breakage in a main lift station sewer line spilled 3,375 gallons of sewage into the coastal waters of Dana Point.
After the spill, a small portion of the beach was closed. The sewer line has since been repaired.
A History of Sewage Spills in Laguna Beach
Laguna Beach, which operates its own water and sewage system, spills more sewage than anywhere else in Orange County.
According to state water resources data, the city has spilled a total of 2.7 million gallons of sewage in 146 different spills since 2007. That’s more than any other Orange County agency listed in the database, including water districts for multiple cities.
[Read: Laguna Beach Spills More Sewage Into Ocean Than Anywhere Else in OC]
In 2023, a 95,000-gallon spill closed two miles of the city’s shoreline. It was caused by a break in a force main sewer line.
In 2019, a 1-million-gallon spill fueled concerns that the city should hand off the water and sewage system to another agency instead of operating it independently.
That spill closed about 16 miles of the shoreline during Thanksgiving weekend in 2019. It was caused by a corroded valve stem on a sewage pipe.
For information regarding Orange County ocean, bay or harbor postings and closures from the OC Health Care Agency, call (714) 433-6400 or visit OCBeachinfo.com. To report a sewage spill, call (714) 433-6419.
Angelina Hicks is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
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