Edhat Staff
Santa Barbara County’s Board of Supervisors learned the sewage spill affecting Goleta Beach began six days before county health officials were informed.
The Goleta West Sanitary District (GWSD) made the update during Tuesday’s meeting stating there were miscommunications and corrections to the spill estimate.
A leak was first detected late Friday, February 16 but the County’s Department of Public Health didn’t receive word of the spill until Wednesday, February 21 prompting a public press release the following day to close a 1.5 mile section of Goleta Beach County Park.
GWSD Manager Brian McCarthy stated his office reported the spill Saturday, February 17, to the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) as an estimated 30,000 gallons and left a phone message to the County Public Health Department. However, the message was not heard until February 21.
GWSD stated they didn’t have the contact number for the Public Health Department’s hazmat hotline, which is why they called CalOES.
CalOES was the first to inform County Public Health of the spill on Saturday, February 17, although the recorded size was 1,000 gallons in a grassy area near the slough. The size was too small of a spill to issue a beach closure and the area was determined to be unlikely to reach the ocean.
McCarthy stated the 30,000 gallon number, enough to prompt a beach closure, was reported to CalOES in their initial report.
It wasn’t until Wednesday, February 21, the County Public Health Department became aware of the spill’s larger size and exact location. The department issued a beach closure notice the following morning citing “a release of approximately 500,000 gallons of sewage from a damaged main sewer line near the Santa Barbara Airport to the Goleta Slough during the recent rain event.”
On Friday, through GWSD’s legal representation, a press release was disseminated updating the spill to approximately 1,025,000 gallons.
Environmental agencies were in attendance on Tuesday and vocalized this is the largest sewage spill in the area on record. They questioned why it took so long for the spill to be properly reported and for beach closures to be issued.
Ted Morton, Executive Director of Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, stated he is alarmed by the massive spill polluting the slough and nearby beaches.
“Channelkeeper is concerned about the public health impacts, and we are concerned about the effects of waters polluted by sewage on the fish, wildlife, and habitats of the Goleta Slough, a state ecological reserve, and nearshore marine waters,” said Morton. “Channelkeeper is seeking answers about the cause, containment, public health notifications, and impacts of this spill and will work with local and state agencies, sanitary districts, and partner organizations to improve the public notification process and identify actions that our community can take to reduce the risks of these large sewage spills in the future.”
Goleta Beach will remain closed this week as more water-testing is done. The bacteria count is expected to drop within a week or two. In the meantime, signs remain posted throughout the county park and people are encouraged to stay out of the water.
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Who leaves a voicemail in 2024 about something this serious and doesn’t follow up with an email? Especially if no response is received. Cmon.
To put that in perspective thats equivalent to 51 home sized swimming pools of sewage leaking onto the beach of anything that goes into a toilet. That is an absolutely massive sewage leak and disgusting.
The refugio oil spill was 123,000 gallons, so this incident was 10 times that.
How do they not have automatic turnoff valves for this or measures in place to stop this right away. People should be upset about this.
The average toilet flush is 1.6 gallons, so that equates to 781,250 flushes. Thats the equivalent of every student at UCSB taking a dump on the beach for 39 days in a row, or every citizen from Goleta to Carp collectively going to the bathroom on Goleta beach for 1.5 days. And the county got upset about 2000 students urinating in the water off Isla Vista for Floatopia years ago. This is worse then if floatopia happened everyday for 390 days.
Sure, be upset. It’s not a good thing.
But a sewage spill is something that the biosphere will deal with much more quickly than any oil spill. There are still lingering effects from the Refugio spill.
sounds about right… government workers
SNAFU.
“I’ll just leave a message”
A 911 call would have been more effective escalating the priority. CalOES makes no sense reporting 1000 when GWSD reported 30,000 to them, sounds like CalOES is stating 1000 to cover themselves
Furthermore, why wouldn’t GWSD continue communication on Friday-Saturday until emergency action was taken? Aren’t emergency situations handled 24/7 like 911? Which brings me back to a 911 call would have been more effective…
“GWSD Manager Brian McCarthy stated his office reported the spill Saturday, February 17, to the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) as an estimated 30,000 gallons
CalOES was the first to inform County Public Health of the spill on Saturday, February 17, although the recorded size was 1,000 gallons in a grassy area near the slough. The size was too small of a spill to issue a beach closure and the area was determined to be unlikely to reach the ocean.”