Photo: Getty Images
Bolinas, a small eclectic coastal town in Marin County, is typically not a hotbed for breaking news in the Bay Area. But that changed this week when reports came in that a popular beach is closed indefinitely because of sewage seeping from nearby cliffs.
ABC7 News reported that the sewage flow is happening at several dozen locations above Bolinas Beach, so the problem could be larger than one person’s aging septic tank. The outlet quoted a county spokeswoman who said the substance coming out of the cliffs was determined to be wastewater carrying E.Coli. Officials are calling it a public health concern and closed the beach for about a mile and a half from Brighton Avenue north to Agate Beach.
“Three of those together would result in about 43,000 gallons of waste delivered to the ocean daily,” said the Director of Marin County’s Community Development Agency Sarah Jones.
ABC7 News also wrote that local residents and businesses are concerned that the beach closure could last years, as the area brings needed tourism dollars to Bolinas. The exact cause of the releases is still unknown. The county will continue to test the wastewater and have to determine if the material is coming from shifts in the land, erosion or some natural cause.
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