Sewage leak leads to partial closure of Bolinas Beach in Marin County

BOLINAS, California. – If you're planning on hitting the beach in Marin County this weekend, please be aware that a large section of one of the area's most popular beaches is currently closed. County officials decided to close large parts of Bolinas Beach last Friday after sand samples showed high levels of sewage.

“This is the first time something like this has happened for this reason,” said Sarah Jones, director of Marin County’s Community Development Agency.

County environmental experts are still trying to determine the exact source of the wastewater, but believe it comes from numerous septic tanks in residential areas on the cliffs above the beach.

“There are a lot of houses on the top of the mesa,” Jones said. “They all have septic tanks. They're not connected to the public sewer system. So we think this is coming from there… from some of the septic tanks of the houses on the bluffs.”

The beach is currently closed from Brighton Avenue to Agate Park.

“It's pretty gross. They should fix it,” said local surfer Beck Reber, who had just learned of the closure and wondered if that could explain the large number of flies. “A lot more than normal.”

Sitting nearby were beachgoers Hannah Goldberg and Gabby Peastore, who both happened to be studying for their PhDs in marine science and chose not to sit on the sand.

“We wanted to avoid sand flies, which are probably attracted to the organic matter,” Goldberg said.

The district said it is working on a solution to the problem, but added that this could take some time. Until then, the beach area will remain closed, district officials said.