UPDATE:All lanes open on Coast Highway; some beaches closed indefinitely after sewage spill

All lanes of South Coast Highway have reopened following a major sewage spill Thursday, but permanent repairs may take up to two weeks to complete, City Manager Ken Frank said.

County health officials have closed beaches from Mountain Road south to Ruby Street to swimming, surfing and diving until further notice while they test water samples taken from the spill site for E. coli and other contaminants.

The city’s top brass spent Friday working on the spill that left a half-mile stretch of the highway a virtual ghost town for more than 24 hours.

Lifeguards and signs have been posted to prevent beachgoers from swimming or surfing in the area.

Parts of Glenneyre Street, Catalina Street and the perpendicular streets in the spill area also were closed Friday.

An attempt to repair the faulty air release valve clamp on the North Coast Interceptor between Center Street and Diamond Street early Friday afternoon failed; a similar effort was made Thursday night, but was abated.

Crews tried again at 2 a.m. Saturday to make the repair, but the highway remained closed until the work was finished and a thorough cleanup was performed, Division Fire Chief Jeff LaTendresse said.

The crew opted to wait until after peak evening water use times.

“It’s just not practical to attempt anything sooner,” LaTendresse said.

Many crew members worked more than 30 hours without sleep, LaTendresse said.

The situation began at around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, when the clamp failed and spilled about 6,500 gallons of raw effluent onto the highway and into the ocean at Agate Street, City Manager Ken Frank said.

Crews were able to control the leak by about 5:30 p.m., but by that time, 50 gallons per minute of effluent were coursing down the highway’s gutters.

A city official who declined to be identified said a report by the Orange County Register that 20,000 gallons of effluent had escaped was erroneous.

“We haven’t lost anything since about 5 p.m. yesterday afternoon,” Frank said Friday.

No backflow or crossflow problems have been reported.

“It’s a problem, but it’s not a catastrophic problem,” LaTendresse said Friday. “The pipe is still flowing at 90% of its normal flow.”

The pipe itself was not damaged.

The highway remained shut down overnight Friday, while crews from a variety of agencies, including the county health department, Caltrans, State Fish and Game and the Orange County Fire Authority’s Hazardous Materials Team, worked around the clock.

“They’ve got more safety people than you can imagine,” Frank said.

Ristorante Rumari Italiano and other area establishments fed hungry, tired workers.

Electrical and water crews were also working in the area, but by coincidence, Frank said.

Friday morning’s attempt was performed after the morning’s highest use period, as people showered before work and school.

Vacuum trucks were backed into an area behind yellow and red hazardous material warning tape, where they were filled with effluent from the pipe in order to relieve its pressure. Cases of hazardous material suits from San Onofre and other locations sat nearby.

Several thousand gallons also flowed out Friday afternoon, during the second attempt to repair the leak.

Officials shut down the Bluebird Pump Station in an attempt to relieve pressure to the main where the faulty clamp is located, so the repair could be conducted.

The area immediately surrounding the sewage pump station was temporarily evacuated.

But during the balancing act, just before the station was to be shut down, the effluent leaked into the ocean off of Bluebird Street.

“It was a small price to pay,” LaTendresse said, compared to the prospect of South Coast Highway being covered in raw sewage.

But after a new clamp was attached to the pipe, part of it began to fail, leading to the decision to shut down the station and make another repair.

Several businesses remained closed Friday. Scott Thompson, owner of the Sweetwater Hand Car Wash, said he would have serviced 170 cars that day, but he was happy to lend his property to the city, which turned it into a temporary command station.

Frank said the city has spent more than $15 million updating its sewer system in the past seven years; this is the first spill that has caused a beach closure since November 2006.

When spilled sewage reaches state waters, it is in the purview of the Regional Water Quality Control Board to fine cities, companies and individuals for the leak.

The board has not yet announced the fine the city will be required to pay for the spills.

Frank confirmed in a statement Friday that the failure was not related to the pipeline work farther down Coast Highway at Nyes Place, which was completed earlier this month.

He estimated that it could take up to two weeks for permanent repairs to be made.