Chlorine dump that hurt mammal center’s sea lions was accidental, police say

An April incident that left 17 sea lions with corneal ulcerations has been deemed accidental by Laguna Beach police.

Authorities announced Thursday that an employee unintentionally poured too much chlorine into a pool, injuring the animals held at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.

Police said the employee meant no harm when operating a filtration system that released an “excessive” amount of chlorine into one pool that left the sea lions with damage to their eyes, according to a news release.

On April 28 employees arriving at work discovered the tainted water and moved the sea lions to a safer area while draining and refilling the pool.

Investigators interviewed several people and collected fingerprints, water samples and DNA from the scene.

Police at first treated the incident as intentional, but shifted focus when they received printouts of the pool’s chemical data and saw that the chlorine levels had spiked the day before the incident, Sgt. Tim Kleiser said.

“One employee who drained the pool that day did not secure the equipment and the chlorine kept pumping into the pool,” Kleiser said.

Center officials told investigators that the person who made the mistake must have had “very good working knowledge of the filtration system,” the release said.

It is not known whether the employee is still working at the center.

All animals recovered from their injuries and 14 were released into the ocean in June.

—Bryce Alderton

Twitter: @AldertonBryce