Tree root causes 800-gallon spill

Newport Beach city workers quickly mopped up sewage seeping out of a

manhole at Carnation Park on Sunday, after a passing driver reported the

spill.

As a result of the spill, about 800 gallons of sewage flowed into

gutters near the park at the intersection of Carnation Avenue and Bayside

Drive.

The Orange County Health Care Agency closed a quarter-mile section of

Newport Harbor after the 12:20 p.m. spill.

Agency regulators closed the harbor’s beach front to swimmers and

divers from Bayside Place to Harbor Patrol Beach, near the Balboa Yacht

Club. Bayside Place merges into Bayside Drive at the park.

Agency officials announced the closing at 4 p.m. Sunday.

The area will remain closed until follow-up water-quality monitoring

shows the water doesn’t pose a health risk because of heightened bacteria

levels.

A city line blocked by a tree root caused the spill, said Ed Burt, the

city’s utilities operations manager.

The line had already been targeted for replacement within 30 days,

Burt said. It leads to the Orange County Sanitation District’s main

“trunk” line.