2.4M gallons of sewage spews from broken pipe in DTLA

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Environmental health officials estimated Tuesday that about 2.4 million gallons of sewage has spilled from a burst pipe in downtown Los Angeles and seeped into the Los Angeles River.

The 60-inch sewer pipe collapsed near 6th Street and Mission Road and caused debris to flow into the pipe, overflowing it and leading to the spill Monday afternoon. The sewage made it into the Los Angeles River and onto the shores of the beaches in Long Beach.

Los Angeles sanitation officials said the leak is "ongoing" and crews are trying to bypass the sewage around the blockage. They added the pipe re-ruptured sometime Tuesday morning.

Officials closed down all the beaches and began testing the waters to determine if it was safe. Results would not be available for at least 24 hours, and the beaches could possibly be closed until Thursday.

Health officials were also worried the sewage could flow down to Orange County beaches, and as a precaution, Seal Beach closed its shores.

If samples do come back positive, officials said they just have to let the ocean naturally dilute the sewage itself. Officials would also continually test the water until they get two consecutive days of clear samples before reopening beaches.

It was originally estimated that about 100,000 gallons of sewage had spewed out from the pipe, and officials brought it up to 1.5 million early Tuesday morning.