PORT ANGELES — You can walk on the beach again but you still can’t harvest shellfish.
Clallam County has reopened beaches inside Port Angeles Harbor that were closed following the May 22 break in the city’s main sewer line.
Lab test results indicate that water quality is now safe enough for recreational use such as swimming and wading, county health officials said Thursday.
But a health advisory is posted for Hollywood Beach because of its proximity to “combined sewer overflow” locations.
Combined sewer overflows occur when too much stormwater enters the city’s sewer system, overflows containment barriers and dumps untreated sewage into Port Angeles Harbor and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The overflow problem spots are at Railroad Avenue and Oak Street, Railroad Avenue and Laurel Street, Lincoln Street and the half-alley between Front and First streets, and the north end of Francis Street.
Warning signs
The city has posted warning signs at those locations and nearby public access points.
Residents should avoid contact with water in these areas during and following heavy rains, when the water may contain elevated bacteria and chemicals from the sewage and stormwater runoff, county health officials said.
Closer to the water, beaches remain closed to recreational shellfishing from Dungeness Spit westward to Cape Flattery, including Port Angeles Harbor.
The state Department of Health closed those beaches because shellfish samples showed elevated levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP, toxin.
