Beach health warning posted at Newland

Paul Clinton

The Orange County Health Care Agency posted health warnings on a

stretch of Huntington State Beach, after high bacteria levels were

detected.

Signs dotted the sand running 150 feet in either direction of Newland

Street, for a total of 300 feet, on the evening of May 29.

The agency announced the posting at 4:30 p.m. on that day.

That section of beach, located in the city’s southeastern corridor,

has been a trouble spot for high bacteria levels.

The beach lies near the Santa Ana River and several flood-control

channels that have been known to carry polluted urban runoff into the

ocean.

The runoff contains animal and human waste that contains the bacteria.

Swimmers and surfers are warned to stay out of the water, to avoid

risks to their health.

The agency posts areas that register with higher-than-acceptable

levels of bacteria until follow-up testing shows they have returned to

safer levels.

On Friday afternoon, the agency took the beach off its posting list

after bacteria levels were deemed acceptable.