Sewer main break pours sewage into Malibu Creek
By Laura Tate/Editor
A sewer line along Las Virgines Road, just south of Lost Hills Road, broke
due to land movement caused by recent storms spilling sewage into Malibu
Creek.
In a post on its Web site, the Las Virgines Municipal Water District
stated that “as much as possible, wastewater flowing to the broken line is
being diverted to facilities in the City of Los Angeles.”
LVMWD officials were informed of the sewer line break 8 a.m., Wednesday.
The city of Malibu was informed by the LVMWD about the sewer main break at
the Tapia Treatment Facility and reported on its Web site that the
district is working to install a bypass to divert flows around the break
while repairs are being made. LVMWD Spokesperson Arlene Post estimated
that two to three million gallons of sewage flows through the pipeline per
day and that one third of that is being diverted to Los Angeles
facilities. The remaining two thirds of the sewage is now pouring into
Malibu Creek.
However, David Lippman, LVMWD director of facilities and operations, said
that temporary diversionary pipes are being installed near the break to
redirect the flow of sewage back into the main line.
The area of land that broke off and slipped causing the break in the line
is about a football field in size, Post said in a telephone interview
Wednesday afternoon. “It was a big piece [of land],” she said.
Lippman said there are three steps to addressing the broken main line:
one, to notify regulatory agencies, two, to install the diversionary
pipes, and three, to make permanent repairs to the broken line.
The two LVMWD officials did not have a definite time estimate as to when
the sewage spilling into Malibu Creek could be stopped, but said it could
be possibly late Wednesday evening or Thursday.
“It’s a fluid situation,” Lippman said, adding, “No pun intended.”
The sewer line that broke is located parallel to the west side of Las
Virgines Road, south of Lost Hills Road.
Lippman said that the water district routinely sends out staff experienced
in detecting problems with water and sewage lines during storms to survey
possible problems. He said staff was sent out yesterday along the route
where the sewer line broke, but they did not detect any problems.
“What happened, happened pretty quickly,” Lippman said.
In addition to warnings already posted by regulatory agencies regarding
high levels of bacteria and pollution in ocean waters because of runoff
from recent storms, the city of Malibu posted a warning on its Web site
urging people to stay out of the ocean due to contamination from the
spill. Malibu Creek flows into Malibu Lagoon and continues to empty out
into the ocean near Surfrider State Beach.