Raging stormwaters in local waterways swept roughly five million gallons of sewage down to Long Beach after a spill in Rancho Dominguez Monday morning, according to city officials.
The majority of the sewage was discharged into the Dominguez Channel, which connects to the Port of Long Beach, and Compton Creek, which leads to the Los Angeles River, officials said.
In addition to the spill reported in Rancho Dominguez, another 40,000 gallons of sewage were discharged from Commerce, which also connects to the LA River, according to city officials. The spill also comes as San Pedro closed Cabrillo Beach Monday after about one million gallons of sewage was discharged from an unspecified location.
It’s unclear what caused these spills, which are currently under investigation, but city officials said some possible factors include capacity issues due to heavy rains and sewer damage.
Although this one is particularly large, Long Beach is no stranger to sewage spills. Last year, city staff estimated the city had to close its coastline for 63 days over a five-year span because of upstream sewage washing down to local waters. Councilwoman Kristina Duggan has been pushing the city to find ways to hold other cities accountable for spills that end up hurting Long Beach.