Investigators have not yet pinpointed the source of a leak that flooded Southern Lights, a coffee shop in the Court of the Sciences, in early November.
An Associated Students UCLA manager shut down operations midday on Nov. 5 after the employee area of the coffee shop was flooded, said Cindy Bolton, the ASUCLA director of food service.
The UCLA Office of Environmental Health and Safety, or EH&S, analyzed the water after the coffee shop closed, Bolton said. She added EH&S closed the coffee shop indefinitely after determining the water could be from the sewage because officials were concerned the water could contaminate the food and beverages.
Bolton said Southern Lights brought in an average daily profit of about $1,200 before the closure.
Jennie Wung, EH&S environmental health programs manager, confirmed its investigation of the facility is ongoing.
Bolton said plumbers from ASUCLA Facilities Maintenance tore down walls and flooring surrounding the coffee shop throughout November and December to locate the source of the leak, but were unsuccessful.
“The plumbers cleaned the (pipes), placed cameras in them and even shut down the irrigation around the area to find the source of the leakage,” Bolton said. “Unfortunately, it’s still a mystery to us.”
Bolton said the flooding had stopped since January. Facilities Maintenance employees are testing individual pipes to locate the leak and find a solution.
“It’s incredibly frustrating,” Bolton said. “We’ve had to pull out walls and equipment to get into the interior wall area, but just can’t recreate it.”
Bolton said the association will ask EH&S officials to consider reopening the coffee shop if its employees cannot pinpoint the source of the leak within a few weeks. She added she thinks the cost of the investigation is significant, but ASUCLA has yet to be billed for the services.
Compiled by Nicholas Yu, Bruin senior staff.