‘Trapped in a portable toilet’ Sewage seeps into California beach [Video]

IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. — California resident Shannon Johnson lives a few blocks from Imperial Beach‘s turquoise water and waves of “perfect little curls” — but Johnson and her two young children haven’t stepped foot on the sand in a year.

“Every time we go by the beach they’re asking, ‘Is it going to be clean? When are they going to fix it?'” said Johnson, 45, a former activist with the Surfrider Foundation, who has been living in Imperial Beach, a small coastal city of 26,000 people 20 minutes from San Diego, since 2010.

Heavy metals, toxic chemicals and bacteria including E. coli have been detected in the water, according to a San Diego State University reportreleased last month. Researchers called the contamination “a public health crisis.” It has resulted in over 700 consecutive days of …