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Hog Island Oyster Co. withdraws 200,000 oysters after hotel sewage leak

Hog Island Oyster Co. withdraws 200,000 oysters after hotel sewage leak

Built World San Francisco, CA local

A septic leak at Olema House shut Tomales Bay's shellfish beds; the state reopened them Oct. 18 after tests came back clean.

October 18th, 2026: State reopens Tomales Bay shellfish beds

Overview

Updated Oct 23

State health officials reopened Tomales Bay's shellfish beds on Oct. 18, ending a closure that began Oct. 12 after a septic leak at Olema House's Due West Tavern sent sewage into Olema Creek. Water samples met standards, and two oyster samples collected Oct. 16 showed no sign of a virus indicator called male-specific coliphage.

Hog Island Oyster Co. had stopped harvesting and pulled 200,000 oysters from the market when the beds closed. It said it would restart only with state authorization, and its Humboldt Bay farm stayed open in the meantime. At the hotel, the septic system is off and waste is trucked away until repairs are certified.

Why it matters

One hotel's septic failure closed Tomales Bay's shellfish beds and cost Hog Island 200,000 oysters; any Bay Area seafood producer faces the same risk.

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Key Indicators

200,000
Oysters withdrawn from market
Hog Island pulled the oysters after the Olema House septic leak, citing precaution.
Oct. 18
Tomales Bay beds reopened
The state reopened the growing areas at 7 a.m. on Oct. 18, ahead of the standard 21-day closure, after tests found no contamination.

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People Involved

JF
John Finger
Co-founder, Hog Island Oyster Co.
Said in Hog Island's Oct. 14 statement that the company was following the state's management plan fully and would resume harvesting only when every required safety standard was met.

Organizations Involved

Hog Island Oyster Co.
Hog Island Oyster Co.
Shellfish farm and restaurant group
Tomales Bay growing areas reopened Oct. 18 after state testing found no contamination; Hog Island had said it would restart harvesting only once the California Department of Public Health authorized it.

Tomales Bay shellfish farm and restaurant group that withdrew 200,000 oysters after the Olema House septic leak.
OH
Olema House
Hotel and tavern
Septic system is shut off and waste is being hauled away by truck while repairs are made, Marin County and the hotel said; no completion date has been reported.

Luxury hotel near Tomales Bay whose Due West Tavern septic failure sent sewage into Olema Creek.

Timeline

3 events Latest: October 18th, 2026 · 3 weeks ago

  1. State reopens Tomales Bay shellfish beds

    Latest Regulatory

    The California Department of Public Health reopened all Tomales Bay growing areas, well ahead of the standard 21-day closure, after water samples met standards and two oyster samples collected Oct. 16 tested non-detect for male-specific coliphage.

  2. Hog Island withdraws 200,000 oysters, suspends Tomales Bay harvesting

    Food Safety

    After the state closed all Marin County shellfish growing areas, Hog Island stopped harvesting, returned that morning's harvest to the water, and withdrew 200,000 oysters from its Sweetwaters and Earthquake beds as a precaution. No illnesses were reported.

  3. Olema House septic leak contaminates Olema Creek

    Environmental

    A septic system failure at Olema House's Due West Tavern sent sewage into Olema Creek, which drains into Tomales Bay. State health officials closed all Marin County shellfish growing areas after confirming the contamination.

Scenarios

1

Tests clear Hog Island's withdrawn oysters

Likely Resolves by Dec 15, 2026

Discussed by: Bay Area News, which reported the withdrawal came before any confirmed contamination

Hog Island or state health officials test the withdrawn oysters and nearby growing waters. If results come back clean, the company resumes normal sales and the incident closes without a formal recall.

2

Regulators cite luxury hotel for sewage discharge

Possible Resolves by Mar 15, 2027

Discussed by: Standard state enforcement for sewage spills affecting shellfish waters

California's North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board investigates the hotel's wastewater system. If the leak violated discharge rules, the hotel faces a fine, a cleanup order, or required repairs.

3

Contamination confirmed, recall widens

Unlikely Resolves by Dec 15, 2026

Discussed by: FDA and state shellfish recall protocol if testing finds pathogens

If tests find sewage-borne pathogens in the withdrawn oysters or nearby waters, the precautionary withdrawal becomes a formal recall. It may expand to other product from the same growing area, bringing in the FDA and California Department of Public Health.

4

Olema House's septic system returns to service

Likely Resolves by End of 2026

Discussed by: Marin County Environmental Health Services, which said the system will not operate until repairs are completed

The hotel's septic system was shut off after the leak, and waste is being hauled away by truck. County environmental health officials said the system stays off until repairs, inspections and certifications are finished.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

2007-2009

Pacific Northwest oyster hatchery crisis (2007-2009)

Ocean acidification, driven by carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere, killed oyster larvae at hatcheries in Washington and Oregon. The Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery in Netarts Bay, Oregon, nearly collapsed before scientists traced the die-off to acidic upwelled water.

Then

Hatcheries installed water-treatment systems and shifted toward more resilient oyster strains.

Now

The crisis put ocean acidification on the shellfish industry's agenda and sparked lasting partnerships between growers and ocean scientists.

Why this matters now

It showed how water conditions beyond any farm's control can suddenly threaten oyster supply, the same vulnerability Hog Island faces with the hotel sewage leak.

April 2010 onward

Gulf oyster closures after the Deepwater Horizon spill (2010)

After the BP oil spill, federal and state agencies closed large stretches of Gulf of Mexico oyster grounds to keep contaminated shellfish off the market. The closures hit an industry that supplied a large share of U.S. oysters.

Then

Gulf oyster harvests dropped sharply in 2010 as grounds stayed closed for testing and cleanup.

Now

Most grounds reopened over the following years, but the spill reshaped the Gulf seafood industry, prompting stricter testing and long-running legal battles.

Why this matters now

It is a much larger example of the same mechanism: one contamination incident can shut down shellfish waters and ripple through the food supply.

Sources

(9)
+3
SFGate / Bay Area News KQED Hog Island Oyster Co. New York Post Hoodline Tomales Bay Oyster Company Point Reyes Light KTVU Hog Island Oyster Co.