A beach water advisory remained in place for parts of Dockweiler State Beach on Saturday as bacteria levels continued to exceed state standards, officials said.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health continued to caution residents planning to visit the beach, located near the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant, to be careful swimming, surfing or playing the in ocean waters near discharging storm drains, creeks and rivers.
The county took samples of the beach water on Friday and said the follow areas of Dockweiler beach still had high bacteria levels:
- Ballona Creek (Near Dockweiler Tower 40)
- Culver Blvd storm drain
- Imperial Highway storm drain
- Westchester storm drain
- World Way extension
The areas under the advisory are located near the Hyperion plant that released 17 million gallons of untreated sewage into the ocean in July as an emergency measure after it became inundated with debris. However, county officials said that “no untreated sewage is currently being discharged into the ocean and ocean waters bacterial levels often fluctuate from day to day and can be impacted by recent rain events.”
Despite the lack of evidence connecting the continued advisory and the Hyperion plant, the facility continued to release millions of gallons of partially treated sewage into the Santa Monica Bay. The sewage water was still in violation of state standards, according to data from the plant on Thursday, July 29.
Advisories for the neighboring El Segundo Beach were also in place this week, but have since been lifted.
The county also warned of high bacteria levels in other beaches further from the Hyperion plant. Those beaches, officials said, were not affected by the sewage discharge at Hyperion and pointed once again to day-to-day fluctuations in ocean water bacteria levels.
The affected beaches are listed here:
- Avalon Beach at Catalina Island (50 feet east of the pier)
- Pico-Kenter storm drain (Santa Monica Beach)
- Topanga Canyon Lagoon (Topanga Canyon Beach in Malibu)