© Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesAll beaches in Long Beach and Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, Calif. are closed to swimmers and surfers through Wednesday due to sewage spills that poured millions of gallons of contaminated material into the ocean.
Non-stop pounding rain from a "Pineapple Express" storm caused a massive sewage spill into Los Angeles County streets and beaches, with health officials warning residents to stay away from coastal waters.
About eight million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Dominguez Channel — a nearly 16-mile river that runs through Carson, Calif. — which originated from two sewer locations, sanitation officials said.
The unprecedented rainfall, which brought anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of rain across Los Angeles, caused the overflow of raw sewage.
"The problem has been an extremely unusual amount of rainwater leaking into the county sewer system causing more flow than some sewer pipelines can handle," LA County Sanitation District spokesman Bryan Langpap told the LA Times.
On Tuesday, the overflow of sewage escaped manhole covers about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.
The solid waste discharged into the Dominguez Channel and Compton Creek, which leads to the Los Angeles River and ends at Cabrillo Beach.
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