Sewage-fouled water flowing out of the Tijuana River prompted a contamination alert Wednesday along several miles of ocean shoreline near the U.S.-Mexico border.
A pipeline break at a reservoir caused the river volume to overwhelm sanitation diversion pumps, leading to the influx of pollution, according to the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health.
The agency issued a coastal contamination warning from the southern terminus of Seacoast Drive in Imperial Beach to the international line.
Signs warning of health hazards will stand along those beaches until follow-up testing deems them safe again for recreational uses, the DEH advised.