Eagle Harbor Waterfront Park and Pritchard Park will remain closed to swimming until Saturday, Aug. 16, the Kitsap Public Health District announced late Tuesday.

The beach closure was prompted by a sewer main break last weekend that spilled nearly 67,000 gallons of sewage into the harbor.

Unless tests done this week indicate a need to extend the closure, people and their pets are advised to avoid direct skin contact with Eagle Harbor waters until Saturday morning, Aug. 16, district officials said.

The city of Bainbridge Island reported the spill occurred at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 10.

A contractor with Frank Coluccio Construction was working to replace the 40-year-old cast-iron sewer line, and inadvertently hit the pipe while digging on the beach near the Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal.

“They had to go into the back-up plan that we have instituted a number of times, which is a bypass and pumping into trucks,” City Manager Doug Schulze said.

The leak was stopped by 1:30 p.m. that same day, and the line was fully repaired by 11 a.m. Monday, officials said.

Despite the break, Schulze said the contractors still anticipate completing the project on time.

There is about 300 feet of the 12-inch force main remaining to be replaced, which is expected to be complete by the end of this week, Schulze said.

The contractor will then move on to replacing connections to pump stations and the treatment plant.

The project is planned to wrap up by October.

For more information regarding the cause of the spill, cleanup and city response, contact Bainbridge Island Utilities Manager Chuck Krumheuer at 206-780-3584.

For questions related to the closure and health impacts of the spill, contact Stuart Whitford of the Kitsap Public Health District at 360-337-0351.