County officials reopened Goleta Beach on Thursday, a day after 2,500 gallons of untreated sewage spilled into a creek that winds its way to the beach.
The Goleta Sanitary District announced Wednesday afternoon that the wastewater had not left the immediate area of the spill, near Nogal and Nueces drives between Goleta and Santa Barbara.
Cieneguitas Creek, which meets the Goleta Slough that runs into Goleta Beach, was not flowing at the time.
According to Goleta Sanitary District general manager Steve Wagner, a rain stopper had partially plugged up a sewer line and caused the backed-up sewage to overflow a manhole and into the creek.
Crews had sucked the sewage back into the unplugged line and cleaned up the creek by Wednesday evening.
County Public Health officials asked beachgoers to avoid contact with water within a quarter mile of where the Goleta Slough meets the ocean, just east of the Goleta Beach pier.
Bacteria testing was conducted and on Thursday, results indicated “that water quality meets or exceeds state health standards,” the Public Health Department said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Sam Goldman can be reached at sgoldman@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.