Spill-Fouled Beach Remains Closed

A half-mile stretch of beach remained closed Monday after a 5,000-gallon sewage spill leaked into Laguna Beach waters over the weekend.

A city sewer line in the 2200 block of Coast Highway ruptured at 10:25 a.m. Friday when it became blocked with roots, a county health official said. The raw sewage seeped from a manhole into the city's storm-drain system and eventually to the ocean.

The affected beach--from Center Street to Rockledge Road--will reopen when the water tests clean, said Larry Honeybourne, program chief for the Water Quality Section of the Orange County Health Care Agency.

It was the 10th sewage spill this year in Laguna Beach resulting in a beach closure.