Ballona Creek

Health officials Friday afternoon reopened beaches near Ballona Creek to swimmers and surfers, two days after they were closed because of a major sewage spill. Testing showed bacteria levels in the water within normal ranges for two days in a row, so lifeguards on Friday began removing closure signs from two miles of coastline south of the creek outlet, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The closures were ordered after a clog in a sewer main caused a manhole near Centinela Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard to overflow Wednesday, discharging an estimated 500,000 gallons of raw sewage into a storm drain that leads to Ballona Creek and, eventually, the Pacific Ocean.

In a first step toward restoring one of Southern California's few remaining wetlands and opening it to the public, the state has approved spending $6.5 million for planning a massive restoration of the degraded Ballona Wetlands — but conservationists are at odds over what that means for the future of the site. Though construction is still years away, the question of how drastically to alter the existing landscape in order to revive the remaining 600 acres of the Ballona Wetlands is polarizing conservationists who fought for three decades to protect the site from the sort of development that ate up most of it. "It's going to be a delicate balancing act," said Lisa Fimiani, executive director of Friends of Ballona Wetlands and a cautious supporter of restoration.

The Sanitation Department and the Rotary Club are co-sponsoring a cleanup of 3 1/2 miles of Ballona Creek from 9 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. Volunteers can sign up that morning at a creek-side bike path entrance where they will be given gloves and cleaning materials, said Joan Satt, Sanitation Department co-manager. The fourth annual cleanup is intended to help restore the creek and help minimize storm water pollution runoff into Santa Monica Bay. "It's true we're not on the coast.

At the bottom of a culvert beneath an underpass near the 405 Freeway in Culver City, a dead body is half submerged in the water, trapped in a net that is catching garbage from the rushing water draining to the ocean. "There is something in the water down there!" shouts a woman ? who spots the body as she is rollerblading along Ballona Creek ? to a nearby maintenance worker. The worker hesitatingly approaches and lifts his arm to cover his face, wincing at the stench of the rotting corpse.

Nearly a million gallons of oil spewed into Ballona Creek from an unidentified underground source Thursday night, while firefighters and others battled to contain the flow before it could reach the ocean. Los Angeles City Fire Department Battalion Chief John Mittendorf said the oil appeared to come from a source--possibly a broken pipeline--near the 5800 block of Jefferson Boulevard, about eight miles from the point where Ballona Creek empties into Santa Monica Bay near Marina del Rey.

County health officials reopened a two-mile stretch of beach near Ballona Creek on Thursday after tests showed that bacteria levels had returned to acceptable levels after a sewage spill earlier this week. The spill occurred overnight Monday when equipment at a Culver City pumping station failed. Between 20,000 and 30,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled into Ballona Creek, which empties into the ocean. Updated information on beach closures is available by calling (800) 525-5662.

City Atty. James K. Hahn has filed criminal charges against officials of a Westside furniture-manufacturing company accused of dumping hazardous materials near Ballona Creek. Among those named in the criminal complaint is Donald Lee Alderson, 40, president of Don Alderson Associates Inc. The firm makes specialty furniture for hotels, other businesses and homes at its plant in the 3300 block of South La Cienega Place in Los Angeles.

A 1 1/2-mile section of beach from Marina del Rey south to Vista del Mar Park was closed Sunday after authorities detected high levels of bacterial contamination. The county health department took the action after Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation workers found high levels of bacteria at several Hyperion Treatment Plant monitoring stations, said a health department spokesman. Officials were unsure of the cause of the contamination but said its likely source was Ballona Creek.

Crews using high-pressure hoses and containment booms worked Thursday to clean up an estimated eight barrels of crude oil that leaked from a Baldwin Hills oil field and flowed into Ballona Creek in Culver City. The oil leak was discovered Tuesday at the Stocker Resources facility, said Donna Guyovich, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. "A dike breached on their property," she said, and the oil entered a storm drain to the creek.

Ahhh, the urban mosaic. Soggy clothes, thousands of cigarette butts, countless plastic bags, a 20-foot hunk of tarpaulin and six bullets were among the nearly 29 tons of trash that Westsiders pulled from Ballona Creek during last weekend's Coastal Cleanup Day. The event Saturday brought about 200 local residents out to help clean up the Culver City section of the creek and its immediate surroundings.

Health officials Friday afternoon reopened beaches near Ballona Creek to swimmers and surfers, two days after they were closed because of a major sewage spill. Testing showed bacteria levels in the water within normal ranges for two days in a row, so lifeguards on Friday began removing closure signs from two miles of coastline south of the creek outlet, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The closures were ordered after a clog in a sewer main caused a manhole near Centinela Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard to overflow Wednesday, discharging an estimated 500,000 gallons of raw sewage into a storm drain that leads to Ballona Creek and, eventually, the Pacific Ocean.

A major sewage spill that has closed a two-mile stretch of beach near Marina del Rey released about 500,000 gallons of raw sewage into a storm drain that runs to Ballona Creek and eventually spills into the ocean, authorities said. The spill ranks among the worst in the last two years along the Los Angeles County coastline. The beach will probably remain closed for three days. Residents reported a manhole overflowing with sewage near Centinela Avenue and Sepulveda Boulevard about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Ron Charles, spokesman for the Los Angeles Public Works Department.

Here in Los Angeles, we've paved over almost all of the coastal sagebrush, bulldozed hillsides, channeled our rivers and streams, and filled in our creek beds. Mother Nature has taken a real beating. But she hasn't given up the fight. In the middle of August, weeks after the last serious rain, she is sending pure, cool water flowing through the city of Los Angeles and environs. The fresh water runs in a handful of places as it has for centuries, in the perennial streams and riverbeds that soothed the thirst of Spanish explorers and settlers almost 300 years ago, and before them, the Tongva Indians.

Time was when Playa del Rey lived up to its name: King's Beach. The hamlet's Toes Beach had a majestic break that lured the likes of singing surfer Dennis Wilson of Beach Boys fame. Wave riders could grab a burger at one of many hangouts, while more sophisticated diners -- airline pilots, aerospace engineers, professors -- had their pick of white-tablecloth restaurants. It was a destination surfing town with a casual vibe but plenty of bustle.

Homicide detectives were investigating the discovery Thursday morning of a woman's body floating in Ballona Creek, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. The woman, who had not been identified, appeared to be in her late 60s or 70s, according to the department. -- -- Jia-Riu Chong

In this wetlands wonderland, winged creatures abound. Three black-crowned night-herons stand sentry behind tall grasses. A graceful snowy egret picks its way between coastal rocks while another flies low, nearly skimming the brackish water. A dozen black-necked stilts, their slim, tuxedoed bodies balanced on spindly scarlet legs, probe muddy islands with their long beaks. Nearby, about 15 brown pelicans flap in the water or tuck their pouched beaks under their wings for the night.

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board is considering imposing fines of $10,000 against the City of Los Angeles for each major discharge of raw sewage into Ballona Creek. In the last two weeks, raw sewage has reportedly been discharged into the creek three times from the city's overflow system near Jackson Street in Culver City. The latest incident occurred Monday.

Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) has asked county health and state water officials to investigate a sewer overflow system that periodically spews raw sewage into Ballona Creek, which empties into the ocean at Marina del Rey. Hayden last week sent a letter to Robert Ghirelli, director of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, asking why the overflow has been allowed and what will be done to stop it.

Nearly 5,000 gallons of sewage that spilled into Ballona Creek on Wednesday night have made swimming at nearby beaches unsafe, county public health officials said Thursday. Lifeguards posted signs at Venice and Dockweiler beaches warning that contact with the water there could be hazardous through Saturday afternoon. County health officials will test the water for contamination and reopen the beaches when bacteria levels are deemed safe.