Miramar Beach Closed Near Montecito Due to Sewage Spill

Health officials have closed Miramar Beach just west of Montecito on Tuesday due to a spill of approximately 1,025,000-gallons (initially estimated at 2,500 gallons), the largest sewage spill in recent local history.

The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department issued the closure for Miramar Beach from a quarter mile east to an eighth-mile west of the outfall of Oak Creek, located near
Sinaloa Drive.

The sewage spilled from a sewer manhole into Oak Creek during recent rains. The affected section of beach has been fenced off and posted with warning signs to avoid contact with the sewage-tainted water over health risk concerns.

The closure comes as health officials advise Santa Barbara County residents to avoid beaches and creeks countywide for at least three days following rains due to bacteria and pollutants from storm water runoff that can increase risk of illness from contact.

Health officials say avoiding swimming, surfing or playing in the ocean and creeks after storm events can minimize potential health hazards like rashes, fever, ear infections, vomiting and diarrhea.  

UPDATE:

On Monday February 26, Heal the Ocean assembled a meeting of sanitary district managers from Carpinteria, the City of Santa Barbara, Goleta, and the Goleta West Sanitary District manager. HTO Executive Director Hillary Hauser led the questioning, accompanied by HTO Policy Analyst Noah Boland and HTO Operations Manager Jasmin Tupy. HTO’s main interest was to find out if other wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) had experienced any spillage or overflows due to recent torrential rains and flooding caused by “Atmospheric Rivers.” HTO learned that the spill was unrelated to heavy rain.

On Tuesday February 27 there was a Board of Supervisors hearing where HTO urged the public to let the Regional Water Quality Board regulators to investigate the cause of the spill.