Officials: Sewage pipe repaired, but lagoon spill tops 5M gallons
By: YVETTE URREA - Staff Writer | ∞
Dead fish, that were gathered by members of the Oceanside sewer crew, are placed at the edge of the Buena Vista Lagoon in Oceanside on Tuesday. The sewer crew workers, who were using a pump to aerate the water, said they picked up the fish that were floating around the reeds where they were working.
HAYNE PALMOUR IV Staff Photographer
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CARLSBAD ---- Crews worked overnight Tuesday monitoring repairs to a sewer pipe near Buena Vista Lagoon after a break in the line earlier this week caused the second-largest sewage spill in San Diego County's history. 
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Carlsbad lagoon contaminated by major sewage spill
More than 5 million gallons of raw sewage fouled the lagoon when it flowed through a roughly 10-inch hole discovered Sunday night in a pipe shared by the cities of Vista and Carlsbad. The massive spill contaminated the water at nearby North County beaches and threatened wildlife in the freshwater lagoon that sits on the Oceanside and Carlsbad border.
By 12:27 p.m. Tuesday, workers had removed the damaged pipeline, replaced it with a new section and conducted several pressurization tests to check the pipe for leaks, officials said. Carlsbad's public works director, Glenn Pruim, said workers will remain at the site and keep the trench open for several days so they can continue monitoring it.
"We're pretty confident that the repair was successful," Pruim said.
The damaged pipe was taken to a city yard so that engineers could determine what caused it to fail, he said.
Pruim said he has not estimated the cost to repair the pipe and clean up the spill, but said the city of Vista will pay the brunt of the bill because it owns 90 percent of the pipe. County officials may also levy a fine on the cities of Vista and Carlsbad, if officials determine the break could have been prevented.
A state Fish and Game Department supervisor and Carlsbad city officials took an aerial tour of the lagoon about midday Tuesday to assess the extent of the contamination and found it was larger than they had anticipated, Pruim said.
Officials saw an obvious darker discoloration where the sewage spill was the most concentrated going west just beyond Interstate 5, he said. The contaminated water was also spilling over a small dam leading to an ocean outlet.
Mark McPherson, chief of land and water quality division for the San Diego Department of Environmental Health, said the spill is the second largest in the county's history. The largest was a spill of 34 million gallons into the San Diego River in 2000 that affected Ocean Beach, he said.
In 1995, 4.6 million gallons of sewage spilled into the Buena Vista Lagoon, tying it with the city of San Diego for third place in the county's worst such spills, according to information from McPherson and Eric Becker with the state Water Quality Resource Board.
The 1995 spill resulted in 9,000 crayfish and 30,000 shrimp dying and signs warning of contaminated water were posted at the lagoon for 21 days, Becker said.
Environmentalists and officials said Tuesday that they are still trying to gauge what damage might be caused by this week's spill.
"It certainly is one of the most damaging spills just by magnitude, and we won't know the effects of it for weeks to come," said Gabriel Solmer, an attorney for the San Diego Coast Keeper.
Pruim said some dead fish have already been reported in the Buena Vista Lagoon, but he could not say whether they were connected to the sewage spill until the fish have been tested. He also could not say how many dead fish had been collected.
Damon Owen, a project biologist for Weston Solutions, which has been hired by the city of Carlsbad to monitor water quality and wildlife, said Tuesday the company had not found any sick or dead birds or invertebrates.
Meanwhile, signs warning of contaminated water were posted along a mile of beaches between Cassidy Street in Oceanside and the 2600 block of Carlsbad Boulevard in Carlsbad.
McPherson said the beaches are "posted as 'Keep out of the water.' "
The signs will be removed when bacteria levels are back to normal, he said.
Carlsbad state lifeguard supervisor Brian Ketterer said the stretch of beach where the signs are posted, from the mouth of the lagoon to Pine Street, is mostly used by pedestrians and that the closures do not affect the more popular swimming and surfing areas in the city.
Ketterer said that since spring break began, there have been about 5,400 people daily at the Carlsbad state and city beaches.
The spill started Saturday night near Jefferson Street and Marron Road. It was discovered Sunday night and crews began to monitor it, Pruim said. When daylight came, crews realized it was a major spill.
"Probably Monday morning, we became aware of the magnitude of it," Pruim said.
To minimize the environmental damage, the city is aerating the water at several locations to try to give fish and other lagoon creatures oxygen, which is otherwise being absorbed by the bacteria from the sewage.
The freshwater lagoon is blocked from the ocean by a low dam, or weir, so it is not flushed by the tides, and the oxygen is the only way to help the wildlife and improve the water quality.
Earlier Tuesday, another smaller spill was discovered at 7:30 a.m. in Carlsbad. It was off South Melrose Drive, between Faraday Avenue and Palomar Airport Road.
The secondary spill, also from a line shared by Vista and Carlsbad, was unrelated to the lagoon spill, said Jenny Peterson, Vista public information officer.
Staff writers Jo Moreland and Phil Ireland contributed to this report. Contact staff writer Yvette Urrea at (760) 901-4076 or yurrea@nctimes.com.
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Doug wrote on Apr 3, 2007 1:46 PM:That's a lot of poop.
Bob wrote on Apr 3, 2007 2:22 PM:Why did this pipe fail? What kind of pipe is it? Is it resistant to corrosion and sewer?
wow wrote on Apr 3, 2007 3:56 PM:I wonder if the 4,100,000 gallons of sewage had anything to do with dead fish people are seeing? Thats a really good question, I hope they can figure it out soon.
restoration needed wrote on Apr 3, 2007 5:55 PM:another reason the restoration of this lagoon needs to occur to return it back to saltwater. Then flushing would occur to clean this horrible mess out and reduce the risk of serious contamination
Common Sense wrote on Apr 3, 2007 7:27 PM:Is it just me or does anyone else think that it's a good thing when one of these pipes crack that the sewage goes in the lagoon rather than on the street or into a home or business? Why is everyone acting like this is a tragedy? I'm very glad there are fewer spills, but no mechanical system is perfect. It will take the lagoon about a week to absorb this, and the ocean even less time - or do we all think that the fish and birds in the ocean don't poop? Let these people fix the pipe and go on. Meanwhile, please increase the news coverage on the important stuff, like the Pads Opening Day, Charger trades, etc.
Jeanne wrote on Apr 3, 2007 7:47 PM:How could a spill of this magnitude occur in an important nature preserve? Our public works leaders need to be more watchful and protect the wild areas we have left in this county. Still more development around our lagoons and beaches can only mean more tragedies like this in the future.
More common sense wrote on Apr 3, 2007 8:48 PM:It looks to me like more of the folks quoted in your article could use some time in charms school.
What? wrote on Apr 3, 2007 9:30 PM:Hey common sense, if it spilled in the street it would still end up in the creeks and eventually make it's way to the ocean. Yes the birds and fish poop, but not 4 million gallons in one place. As far as opening day and the chargers there is plenty of that in the sports section. Where you should stay. On the plus side you are right, no man made system is perfect. Jeanne, I would guess that this pipe was installed long befor the lagoon was made a nature preserve.
Hey common sense wrote on Apr 3, 2007 9:45 PM:Ya, its no big deal- who needs nature when you have the padres. Thank goodness the 4 million gallons of sewage didn't flow into your living room and knock out your television signal. Lets meet down at the beach and go for a nice swim, If I'm not there yet, feel free to go in without me.
i wonder wrote on Apr 3, 2007 9:52 PM:if this sewage spill had something to do with all the illegal immigrants. lets get them out of here before more sewer lines break. just kidding. just seems like something stupid someone would say on here. since people these days find stupid ways to complain about illegals. but yeah.. thats a lot of crap. no going in the water on such a hot day.
Heady wrote on Apr 3, 2007 10:26 PM:Hey, Dude, Surf's up!
JP wrote on Apr 4, 2007 7:45 AM:Heady, you are hilarious man! Don't eat any toxic wheat gluten from China bro.
Jimmy the III wrote on Apr 4, 2007 9:48 AM:It's interesting that the Carlsbad-Vista folks and others are depending upon the word of others that say pipes should last 50 years and they also have lots of Car sales places and haven't learned a thing. Any sales person will say something like that if it sits and does nothing like a car it will last a long time but drive it off the lot and you reduce its lifespan, sales people don't tell you that. When are these water utilities folks gonna get a brain? Thats the uptimum best case scenario life span for a sewer pipe- 50 years. That commonly its a lot less. I've heard car salesmen tell people 'Oh that car it will last you a lifetime' only to see it in the repair shop less than 5 years. People who sell you things will tell you anything to sell you their product. You need to be wise and inspect frquently and do proper maintenance. Show us your inspection records and where you've video'ed your all your pipes and joints for cracks or seam leaks Calrsbad-Vista then I'll believe you (somewhat)!But that would entail you doing proper maintenace and shuting down and diverting your system every year.
AC wrote on Apr 4, 2007 10:54 AM:To Common Sense: You apparently don't have any. People like you who think sports is the most important thing going on exemplify the brain-dead population that's letting all this unbridled development go on around us. Too many San Diegans across the county are too busy enjoying the sun, entertainment, and other self-indulgences to pay even a tiny bit of attention to the real issues. All you gotta do is look at voter turnout. What a joke. Yeah, just keep letting this place go to hell while you talk about the Chargers, a great place to eat, and the new strip mall.
DebRose wrote on Apr 4, 2007 1:33 PM:WELL WELL, it looks like everything is falling into a neat ,tight,package for the developers of the "new Hotel", mighty convenient I'd say.....what do you expect to happen when prior sewage leaks have gone unreported or ignored! The few of us that did everything we could to preserve the lagoon and save the domestic fowl, were lied to,pacified,or replaced. This pipe has been "patched" before? Right! PUT YOUR REPORTS OF ALL COMPLAINTS OF SEWAGE LEAKS
JW wrote on Apr 4, 2007 4:32 PM:Who is the genius who put a sewer line this close to a "sanctuary?" These are our tax dollars at work folks. I got a ticket form the Vista dirt police(aka city of vista storm water compliance.) They fined me 100 dollars for having dirt in my front yard. What kind of fine can I give the City of Vista for contaminating the Lagoon I fish and the ocean I surf? This makes me sick!
crazy monkeys wrote on Oct 14, 2007 11:21 AM:I feel sorry for the people who have to clean up all that poo!
Angry wrote on Oct 14, 2007 3:01 PM:Dear Debrose, I see you share my oppinion of this outrage and I have a mind to sue the company for this. Of cource, nobody is going to care about one persons opinion and I doubt that this will EVER BE POSTED!!!!!!! I AM SOOOOO ANGRY ABOUT THIS!
BLA wrote on Oct 14, 2007 3:04 PM:"bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla" that is what the authorities heard when we complained, but NOW we will get some result!
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