Briefly in the news

-- June Casagrande

A county sewer line that leaked 50,000 gallons of raw sewage into the

channel that runs behind Newport Shores has forced a half-mile of beach

and Newport Slough to close until at least Monday afternoon.

County sanitation workers managed to vacuum up about 45,000 gallons of

the spilled sewage before the remaining 5,000 drained into the Santa Ana

River on Thursday.

The spill, which occurred about 8:30 a.m., closed the beach from

Highland Street to Talbert Channel in Newport Beach, as well as Newport

Slough. Those areas will remain closed to swimmers, surfers and divers

until at least late afternoon Monday, possibly longer.

“We’ll take samples every day until we get samples that are in

compliance with ocean bacterial standards,” said Monica Mazur from the

Orange County Environmental Health Division.

The spill was much larger than the one caused Tuesday by a break in a

city sewer line. That spill dumped about 1,500 gallons of sewage into the

bay at the harbor’s mouth, closing Harbor Patrol Beach, China Cove Beach

and Rocky Cove Beach. Those areas remain closed until further notice.