Blackout Side Effect: Sewage Closes Beaches

2M-gallon spill hits shoreline in San Diego area
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 9, 2011 5:10 PM CDT
Blackout Side Effect: Sewage Closes Beaches
Downtown San Diego is dark last night after a massive blackout hit Southern California.   (Getty Images)

A really unfortunate side effect of the massive power shortage that hit Southern California yesterday: Miles of shoreline fouled with sewage. Beaches in the San Diego area are expected to be closed for at least two days after the pumps failed at a wastewater plant, causing about 2 million gallons of sewage to spill, reports SignOnSanDiego. It went into the Los Penasquitos Lagoon, which empties into the sea near Del Mar, notes KPBS. A smaller spill reached the Sweetwater River, which flows into San Diego Bay. (More power outage stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X