Sewage Waste Discharges

Sewage waste discharges commonly known as “sewage spills,” occur when wastewater being transported via underground pipes overflows through a manhole, clean-out drain or broken pipe. Sewage spills can cause health hazards, damage homes and businesses, and threaten the environment, local waterways and beaches. Untreated sewage has high levels of disease-causing bacteria and viruses. Orange County OWPP is responsible for protecting public health by closing ocean, harbor and bay water areas affected by sewage spills.

Local and state agencies have legal jurisdiction and enforcement authority to ensure sewage spills are remediated. Allowing sewage to discharge from a home, business or public property may subject the responsible party to penalties and/or out-ofpocket costs to reimburse local and state agencies for cleanup efforts and for not reporting the sewage spill. As mandated by the California Health and Safety Code, any person who causes or permits a sewage discharge to any state waters must immediately notify the local health agency of the discharge. After a significant increase in the number of ocean water closures due to sewage spills in 1998, the OWPP started collecting detailed data on all sewage spills occurring in Orange County the following year (1999). Therefore, data on type of sewage waste discharges (e.g., private property owner, pipeline blockages and pipeline breaks) are only available from 1999 onward.