BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS

-- Paul Clinton

Orange County public health officials closed North Star Beach on

Thursday after sewage poured out of a Domingo Drive manhole cover.

The half-mile section of beach was shut down to swimmers at about 1:45

p.m., after a clogged Newport Beach city pipe caused the backup on the

Eastbluff street.

The pipe was probably clogged with grease, said Orange County Health

Care Agency spokeswoman Monica Mazur.

The beach will be closed for 72 hours while the agency determines the

cause of the spill, which was cleaned up quickly by city workers.

Between 500 to 600 gallons of sewage flowed onto Domingo, down a

street drain, into Big Canyon wash and then into the Upper Newport Bay.

Health officials will photograph the inside of the blocked line with a

closed-circuit television camera as they look for the cause of the spill.