[CPEO-MEF] Base housing area blamed for overflow

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[California]
Base housing area blamed for overflow
By Jeanette Steele
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 19, 2002

OCEANSIDE ? Harbor Beach was closed to swimmers yesterday after 30,600
gallons of untreated sewage spilled into Oceanside Harbor from a Camp
Pendleton housing area, a county official said.

The spill began at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. The base was notified at 10 a.m.
yesterday and stopped the leak in 30 to 50 minutes, according to base
and county spokesmen.

Grease and construction materials in a sewage line caused the overflow,
said Marine Capt. Joshua Smith. Sewage went into a storm drain that
empties into the north side of the harbor.

City officials posted warning signs around 10:30 a.m. yesterday along
the shoreline at Harbor Beach between the north and south jetties, where
swimming is common, and at the harbor.

Boating is not restricted, said Ray Duncan, Oceanside lifeguard manager.

San Diego County environmental health officials are testing the water
for bacteria. Two consecutive days of clean samples are required before
the water will be considered safe, said Clay Clifton, the county's
recreational water program coordinator.

It was the county's eighth-largest sewer spill this year, said Mark
McCabe, a county environmental health specialist. The last time a Camp
Pendleton sewage spill affected Oceanside beaches was in July 2000, he
said.

Camp Pendleton has a record of sewage problems.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20021119-9999_1m19sewage.html

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