Blue Lagoon reopened after sewage spill closure

Orange County Health Care Agency officials on Wednesday reopened about 2,000 feet of coastline around Blue Lagoon after a sewage spill Monday from a nearby mobile home park.

A sewer line block at a residence in the Laguna Terrace mobile home park caused about 1,400 gallons of sewage to spill into the ocean, forcing the county to shut down the coastline to protect swimmers, surfers and divers, agency program manager Larry Honeybourne said.

“We’re salutarily mandated to close beaches to protect public health if in fact there’s a discharge of raw sewage,” he said.

The South Coast Water District worked to recover the sewage.

Aliso Creek and Aliso Beach were not affected, according to officials.

Two days of testing are required by the county to ensure that bacteria levels are below state standards, he said.

Costs associated with the testing and the closure have not been tallied, but once determined, the county expects to bill the responsible party, Honeybourne said.

For more information, visit ocbeachinfo.com.