Seventeen million gallons of raw sewage were discharged into Santa Monica Bay earlier this week after a sprawling wastewater treatment plant in Los Angeles experienced problems, prompting several beach closures more than 12 hours later that were sharply criticized for not happening sooner. The beaches, which stretch for more than 2.5 miles along the Pacific Coast west of Los Angeles International Airport, reopened on Wednesday after a two-day closure, according to public health officials. But the fallout from the handling of the sewage release from the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant, one of the largest wastewater treatment plants in the world, continued well after swimmers and surfers were allowed to return to the ocean. Critics said that the city’s Department of Public Works and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health took more than 12 hours to alert beachgoers about the discharge, which lasted about eight hours — from Sunday night into Monday morning.

Source: International New York Times July 15, 2021 21:45 UTC