Sewage Spill Closes Goleta Beach

[UPDATE: April 27, 2017]

The county’s Public Health Department has given Goleta Beach waters a clean bill of health, and the beach is once again open.

[UPDATE: April 26, 2017; 5pm]

A sewer backup at Nogal and Nueces was called in to Goleta Sanitary District around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The line was plugged — apparently with a manhole rainwater stopper that somehow got loose — and about 2,500 gallons of overflow went into Cieneguitas Creek, which was not running at the time. The sewage was vactored out where it had collected in a pool, said Goleta San’s General Manager Steve Wagner. The area was disinfected with an environmentally safe product, Wagner said, and the all-clear was given by 5 p.m.

Out of an abundance of caution, Public Health closed part of Goleta Beach on Wednesday until water quality tests could ascertain the bacterial levels were safe.

[ORIGINAL STORY]

Goleta Beach has been closed for a quarter-mile to either side of the mouth of the Goleta Slough. More than 1,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled at Nogal and Nueces Drive in Hope Ranch Annex and from there into Cieneguitas Creek, which runs through Goleta Slough, according to County Public Health.

Signs have been posted to warn of the area contamination, which can cause serious health problems, particularly to infants and young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with compromised immune systems. Once water samples are clean, the signs will come down. After that, Public Health warns against taking shellfish for at least 10 days.