Batiquitos Lagoon Sewage Spill 2012 & Impacts Almost Back To Normal!
Update as on October 22, 2012
As you have seen in the media, Batiquitos Lagoon Ecological Reserve suffered a
sewage spill near the City of Carlsbad’s Water District’s pump station east of our
Nature Center. While the exact location of the sewer line break is still being
investigated, the City of Carlsbad onsite event team, including representatives from California Department of Fish and Game, San Diego Environmental Health, Aviara Master (Homeowners) Association, the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation (BLF), and others, responded and worked to contain the spill and associated environmental impacts and damage. The City of Carlsbad successfully installed a temporary bypass system that allowed for restarting the sewage pumps and resuming the sewage handling operation. The sewage spill is estimated at 32,000+ gallons, with the final figure possibly being larger. The lagoon impacts, based on water monitoring, has been negligible to date, with tidal flushing being able to handle the spill. With an eye for caution, the spill area and lagoon inlet has been posted with warnings.
Now the clean-up begins! As of Tuesday morning, October 9, work began to: identify exactly where the break occurred; remove contaminated soil; repair the North Shore Trail in the spill area; repair damage caused by the equipment brought in to contain the spill; remove any damaged plant materials in and near the spill area; and other activities. As of today (October 21st), much of this work has already been completed!
We are pleased to report that we’re almost back to normal operations!
- The North Shore Trail is now open. There is ongoing work being done in the area, so please be careful!
- The Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation Nature Center at 7380 Gabbiano Lane is open again. Please bear with us as we ramp up our Nature Center hosting volunteers.
- Weed-whacking and Trail Maintenance events on the 1st and 3rd Saturday’s are again to meet at the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation Nature Center, 7380 Gabbiano Lane, Carlsbad, CA 92011.
- Our school/group educational programs will again start at our Nature Center. Locations elsewhere will be coordinated as we have routinely done in the past.
- Our monthly Bird Counting on the 2nd Friday of every month will be as before and begin at the Gabbiano Lane Trail area, and with move to another location.
Finally, we would like to thank the many workers from the City of Carlsbad and others for their hard work and the long hours spent in responding to this spill and for working with the community to quickly remediate the damage!