Seventeen million gallons of sewage that spilled from Los Angeles' largest treatment plant led to the closure of several Southern California beaches on Monday.
On Twitter, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said a power outage on Sunday at the Hyperion Water Reclamation treatment plant caused the spill.
"Water samples are being tested and I'm getting more information about the scope of the problem," Hahn said.
Four miles of beaches from El Segundo to the Dockweiler RV Park were closed Monday to swimmers and surfers, the County Department of Public Health said in a news release.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Hyperion Executive Plant Manager Timeyin Dafeta said that spillage was discharged into Santa Monica Bay.
According to the statement, the plant discharged about 6% of the facility's daily load as an emergency measure to make sure that more raw sewage wasn't spewed or avoid the plant from going offline, the AP reported.
USA Today reported that the plant has been operating since 1894.
