Countywide : Pollution Mars Sunny Beach Day

Though tempted by the high waves and sunny skies, sunbathers and surfers stayed out of the ocean and on their towels Tuesday as contaminated waters washed before them.

Dotting the water’s edge were red-and-white signs: “Warning. Keep Out. Contaminated Water. By Order of the Health Officer, County of Orange.”

A four-mile stretch of beach between Newport Pier and Huntington Beach at Beach Boulevard remained closed after a sewage spill last week at a regional treatment plant in Fountain Valley prompted health authorities to quarantine the waters. The sewage spilled into storm drains leading to the Santa Ana River, and flowed into the ocean.

“We expect to see most of the area opened by Wednesday afternoon,” said Mike Wehner, chief of the Orange County environmental health water quality program. “It depends on the sample results. We are now waiting for results from tests taken Monday.”

Swimmers who come in contact with the bacteria-laden waters risk catching hepatitis or contacting a skin rash, depending on their length of exposure and the bacterial concentration, Wehner said. A more typical illness, gastroenteritis, which includes symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea and nausea, can result if a person swallows the water, he added.

On Tuesday, two toddlers ran bare-footed through the waters at Huntington Beach. Their parents, who asked not to be named, said, “We figure as long as they don’t drink the water we can always wash off their feet.”

Even with the contaminated water, sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s brought people to the beaches. Similar weather is expected today.

“The signs scare me away from the water, but not from the beach,” said Teri Benner of Costa Mesa, as she took pictures of two friends posing on the rocks at Newport Beach.

She was concerned that there were not enough signs warning of the contamination. “People might not have seen them and entered the water.” The signs are posted about every 200 yards.

A couple, Kathy and Bill Kellog, strolled along the beach picking up sea shells Tuesday morning. Kathy Kellog said, “I worry about the fish and other sea creatures more than humans going out there and swimming. The poor things have to live in this filth.

“Humans fouled the water, not the fishes,” she said.

Others were disappointed that the sewage spill cost them a good day of surfing.

Heavy surf pumping in from the northwest reached 6 feet at many beaches, the National Weather Service said.