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Public Safety

Sewage Flows Onto Beach In Del Mar

A group of beachgoers along the rail road tracks in Del Mar.  August 10, 2016.
KPBS
A group of beachgoers along the rail road tracks in Del Mar. August 10, 2016.

An overflowing sewage line in Del Mar prompted authorities to warn visitors to stay out of the water at a section of the city's shoreline Sunday.

City officials were alerted around 11:20 a.m. to sewage flowing out of a manhole near Eighth Street, according to Del Mar Director of Community Services Jon Edelbrock.

Workers tried to remove a blockage causing the overflow for about three hours, until they were able to use heavier equipment provided by the city of Encinitas to successfully stop the leak around 2:15 p.m., Edelbrock said.

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About 4,200 gallons of sewage flowed onto the beach. Workers were able to contain much of it and vacuum it up, but the beach between Seventh Street and Ninth Street was set to be closed as a precaution for the next 72 hours while the water is tested for contaminants, Edelbrock said.

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