The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has reopened Dockweiler State Beach and El Segundo Beach, which were closed following a 17-million-gallon sewage spill on Monday.
The health agency collected water samples over the past two days to determine bacteria levels.
The agency announced Wednesday night that the results met state standards for acceptable water quality. Testing will continue through Thursday.
The following beaches are reopened:
Beach # 110 – Dockweiler State Beach at Water Way Extension
Beach # 111 – Dockweiler State Beach at Hyperion Plant
Beach # 112 A – El Segundo Beach
Beach # 112 B – Grand Ave. Storm Drain
The spill originated from the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa del Rey. After the plant discharged 17 million gallons of untreated sewage, public health officials notified the public and closed miles of beaches along the coast.
However, there remain questions over whether officials acted quickly enough.
The LA Times reported that officials from the LA County Department of Public Health were at the water plant when the emergency discharge procedure occurred and failed to notify the public until at least an hour later.
LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn blamed the spill on a mechanical failure at the water reclamation plant on the shore near Los Angeles International Airport.
Hahn also said she would be looking for answers from the county about how the spill happened and how public health failed to notify the public in a timely manner.
“We need answers from L.A. City Sanitation about what went wrong and led to this massive spill, but we also need to recognize that L.A. County Public Health did not effectively communicate with the public and could have put swimmers in danger,” she said in a statement.
Information on beach conditions is available 24-hours a day on the LA County's beach advisory hotline: 1-800-525-5662 and online at http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/beach/.