San Pedro : Sewage on Cabrillo Beach

Beachgoers were advised to stay out of the water along a 400-yard stretch of Cabrillo Beach after a small sewage pumping station lost its electrical power and a undetermined amount of sewage seeped onto the sand, Los Angeles city and county officials reported.

Advisories were posted late Tuesday and remained in effect Wednesday. The beach was expected to be reopened to the public today because county health officials determined no sewage seeped in the water, according to Ted Reed, the county’s director of beaches and harbors.

City sanitation workers on Tuesday discovered that the pump was not working while they were taking routine water samples along the beach, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Public Works said. It was not immediately known what caused the pump’s electrical failure or how much sewage seeped onto the sand.