Update: Sewage Spill Closes Entire IB Shoreline

Updated 12:48 a.m., March 20.

A sewage spill near Playas de Tijuana in Mexico is pouring more than 100,000 gallons of untreated sewage into the Pacific Ocean, the department of environmental health told NBC San Diego Tuesday.

Paloma Aguirre and other WiLDCOAST employees reported a noticeable stench and discoloration in local waters Tuesday.

Steve Smullen with the International Boundary and Water Commission told the environmental group it appears the flow of sewage to the Tijuana River started Monday afternoon.

A long-term ocean contamination alert around the U.S.-Mexico border was expanded Monday to include the Imperial Beach shoreline.

Northward sea currents are believed to have carried the sewage-fouled runoff from Mexico and the Tijuana River into the surf off the coast of IB in recent days, the county Department of Environmental Health said.

Signs warning of pollution hazards will remain in place until field measurements indicate that the ocean in the area is safe again for recreational use.

Contaminated flows out of Mexico have been entering the Tijuana Estuary for months due to this winter's rains, according to the DEH.

Latest observations by the Southern California Coastal Ocean Observatory System (SCCOOS) detect 36 million gallons of water a day leaving the river as of 9:15 a.m. Tuesday. To see how water from the Tijuana River is interacting with ocean currents visit the SCCOOS plume tracker.

City News Service contributed to this report.