Featured Image Credit: Vern Fisher
By Sarah Sharkey
Roughly 5 million gallons of sewage spilled into the ocean on the California coast. The spill occurred after a filter got clogged at a water treatment plant, but a computer did not sound the alarm so no one was aware of the blockage until it was too late. The spill started on Friday night and was not stopped until Saturday morning, eight hours later.
A facility in the city of Marina is responsible for the spill. Paul Sciuto, Monterey One Water general manager, said “A number of alarms did not get to the operator because of a computer communications’ failure, but we still don’t know what caused it.”
The event has forced several popular beaches to close, including Monterey State Beach. These beaches are beautiful and it is difficult to watched them be contaminated in such a way. The area is not just pretty for humans to enjoy, but also home to marine mammals.
The director of veterinary science at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, Shawn Johnson, said “We’re keeping an eye out for any marine mammals that might be affected by this spill, and at this point, we haven’t recovered or rescued any.” It should also be noted that the raw sewage poses the greatest risk to young mammals.
Hopefully, these events will be learned from and raw sewage will not end up in our oceans again.
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