El Segundo moves to sue L.A. over massive Santa Monica Bay sewage spill, foul odors, toxic algae
The sewage spill in Santa Monica Bay was so huge it took down the boat in which the residents were taking a boat tour on Saturday.
The sewage was pumped through the city’s sanitary sewer system without a permit and, some contend, endangered the ocean and their children’s “sanitation quality.”
In one of the world’s largest sewage spills, a Los Angeles County boat tour operator and his family said the sewage caused them to take the ferry over to Long Beach and drive two hours back to Santa Monica.
“We have a son,” said Alex Cisneros, a father who took the trip earlier this month on the Los Angeles-bound ferry, “and a daughter, and we were like, ‘Where are we going? How do we get there, how do we buy groceries?’
“When we got to Santa Monica, we drove two hours and we stopped and bought groceries, and it was a real challenge because, you know, we had no idea how to get it all home.”
The man and his wife decided to walk to their rented house in Santa Monica after the sewage was pumped out. On Monday, they learned of the sewage spill and immediately sought legal advice.
Their attorney, William Consovoy of Santa Monica, who handles civil and environmental cases, said he expects the case will be a challenging one but said he was optimistic about their chances for success.
What was the sewage smell like?
The odors were not so bad, Consovoy said, though they were “pretty strong” and did not dissipate quickly.
“The smell was pretty strong in the city,” he said, “even though it has been diluted.”
The odors were “not what you expect from a sewage spill.”
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