{"id":237032,"date":"2026-03-26T05:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T05:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/237032\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T05:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T05:16:09","slug":"sewage-spill-forces-beach-closure-on-catalina-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/237032\/","title":{"rendered":"Sewage spill forces beach closure on Catalina Island"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A sewage spill forced officials to shut down <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/26\/us-news\/the-cleanest-and-grossest-beaches-in-california-and-where-the-iconic-santa-monica-pier-ranks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">part of a popular California shoreline<\/a> and warn visitors to stay far away from the water.<\/p>\n<p>Roughly 300 gallons of sewage were discharged near Avalon Beach on Wednesday, March 25, with the contaminated flow <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/13\/us-news\/warning-about-la-beaches-during-california-heat-wave\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">making its way into both the ocean water and the shoreline sand<\/a> in Avalon.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.88581952;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38897600\" width=\"1024\" height=\"543\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/los-angeles-county-department-public-124414203.jpg\" alt=\"Satellite map of Avalon Beach on Catalina Island, showing ocean monitoring locations DPH118, DPH119, and DPH120 in red.\" class=\"wp-image-38897600\"  \/>The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued an ocean water closure. publichealth.lacounty.gov<\/p>\n<p>The mess prompted an immediate ocean water closure, stretching about 50 yards in both directions from the spill site. What\u2019s usually a postcard-perfect stretch of coastline on Santa Catalina Island quickly <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/24\/health\/travel-warning-for-16-countries-with-higher-risk-of-painful-disease\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">became a danger zone as officials warned the public<\/a> to steer clear of the water \u2014 and even the wet sand.<\/p>\n<p>Health authorities say anyone who ignores the closure could end up sick, with higher risks for children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.50146628;display:block\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38897599\" width=\"886\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/aerial-view-catalina-island-city-124414210.jpg\" alt=\"Aerial view of Catalina Island with the city of Avalon and its harbor filled with boats.\" class=\"wp-image-38897599\"  \/>Roughly 300 gallons of sewage were discharged near Avalon Beach on Wednesday, March 25. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Crews are now racing to monitor the contamination, with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health conducting ongoing water sampling. The beach will stay off-limits until two consecutive tests show bacteria levels have dropped back to acceptable state standards.<\/p>\n<p>What caused the spill remains a mystery, with officials offering no details on the source of the discharge as cleanup and testing efforts continue.<\/p>\n<p>The closure throws a wrench into plans for visitors hoping to enjoy the island\u2019s typically pristine waters, now sidelined by a wave of pollution concerns.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities are urging anyone heading to Catalina to <a href=\"http:\/\/publichealth.lacounty.gov\/phcommon\/public\/eh\/water_quality\/beach_grades.cfm\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">check the latest updates<\/a> before making the trip, as conditions could change depending on test results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sewage spill forced officials to shut down part of a popular California shoreline and warn visitors to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1785,7,9,8,76594,4182,21659,48203,3586],"class_list":["post-237032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-beaches","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-cleaning","tag-metro","tag-ocean","tag-toxic","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}