Sewer Line Break Sends Sewage Into Storm Drain

A break in an aging sewer line beneath a Santa Monica street sent hundreds of thousands of gallons of raw sewage flowing down the Pico-Kenter storm drain toward Santa Monica Bay before the leak was fixed last month.

The leak in a 15-inch sewer line at 20th Street and Colorado Avenue was discovered as city workers searched for the source of sewage contamination that showed up in tests taken in the storm drain.

Santa Monica General Services Director Stan Scholl estimated that at its peak, 120 to 150 gallons of sewage per minute flowed from the sewer line through a nearby collector pipe into the storm drain. “It appears that this has been leaking for at least four weeks,” Scholl said. “During that time, there’s been several hundred thousand gallons that has leaked into the storm drain.”