Carmel Beach has been closed due to a small sewage spill of about 50 to 100 gallons, reported by the Carmel Area Wastewater District, according to a notice from the County of Monterey Environmental Health Bureau on Thursday, Oct. 23.
UPDATE: The beach was reopened on Saturday, Oct. 25, after officials from the City of Carmel and the Monterey County Health Department reviewed water quality testing by the CAWD and its independent third-party lab and concluded the beach was safe to reopen.
The spill, caused by a sanitary sewer force main line break, first appeared out of a communications vault, an underground container containing telecommunications equipment, along Scenic Road near Carmel Point.
The beach will remain closed until samples indicate that the water is again safe for contact according to state guidelines.
The department warns that contact with contaminated water could cause gastroenteritis and other water-borne illnesses.
More information is available from the toll-free hotline, (831) 755-4599, and from myth.org/beaches.