Minister promises new Parlee Beach water-quality regime after public misinformed

The New Brunswick government will updatethe water quality testing and rating system by beach seasonafter a "breakage" in the system resulted in incorrect swimming conditions being reported for Parlee Beach last summer, Environment Minister Serge Rousselle announced Monday.

Rousselle admitted there were three weeks whenthe water quality at the province's most popular beach should have been rated poor, and it wasn't, putting beachgoers at risk for illness and disease.

The rating errors came about becausethe results of the three bacteria level tests done in the Shediac Bay watershed at the beginning of every week were averaged out "for one reason or another,"instead of the worst one being used to determine the rating, Rousselle said.

"There was effectively a mistake done," he said during a news conference inMoncton. "So basically there was no order to change the system. It is just that somebody by mistake did changethe system."

• Parlee Beach staff followed water-quality guidelines, says Boudreau
• Tourism officials won't answer questions about Parlee Beach discrepancies

The announcement comes after a series of reports by CBC News about discrepancies on 17 days between water quality lab test resultsforParleeBeach and the public ratings posted by park staff.

Tourism Department documents, obtained by local residents through right-to-information requests, showedthefecalbacteria levels atParleewere high enough to pose a health risk to children and the elderlyon 45 days last summer, butbeachgoerswere only informed the water quality was poor on 28 days.

I heard many explanations, so I cannot tell you the exact reason.- Serge Rousselle, Environment minister

Roussellecredited the media reports with flagging the problem and prompting the review that discovered the incorrect averaging system had been used.

He could not, however, explain why the process, which dates back to 2001,changed last summer.

"What I can tell you is that peoplethought they were following the protocol. And as I said, for one reason or for another, because I heard many explanations, so I cannot tell you the exact reason." he said.

Asked whether the person or persons responsible willface any consequences, Rousselle said the government is focused on ensuring the health, safety and security of beachgoers and on ensuring Parlee Beach continues to attract tourists.

Seeking source of contamination

To that end, officials from three departments Environment,Health and Tourism, Heritage and Culture are looking for ways to improve the current monitoring system and will be seeking public input, starting this month, said Rousselle.

He expects the changes to be announced in the spring and implemented by June.

The government also wantstoimprove communication with the public about water quality results, he said. A new website, calledParlee Beach Water Quality, was launched on Monday. Other possibilities includeposting results online and increasing on-site signage.

In addition, the government is collaborating with academic and private-sector experts to identify sources of contamination throughout the watershed, said Rousselle.

Aproject manager has been hired by the government to oversee these initiatives, he said.

'Significant number' of people won't be visiting

Tim Borlase, who owns a home in Pointe-du-Chne and is a member of a group of concerned citizens called the Red Dot Association Shediac Bay, said he is pleased the government has "finallyindicated that they consider it an important issue and how it does affect human health."

"It's been a long haul and it's been very difficult to impress upon government the seriousness of this situation," he said.

Borlase suspectsfears about the potential impact on tourism spurred the government to act.

"I think they're now aware there are a significant number of people that are saying they won't be visiting or vacationing in thePointe-du-Chne, ParleeBeach, Shediac area this summer, so I think that's got people a bit worried about this whole situation escalating."

The group, which obtained 1,500 signatures on a petition forwarded to government, gathered "quite a bit of anecdotal evidence" that some people were sick during the summer months,and their symptoms coincided with those commonly caused by poor water quality conditions, said Borlase.

"It's a range.Some rashes, some breathing issues. A number of people had some skin lesions. Even we heard today, there were even some dogs affected with irritations on their skin,"he said.

Borlase notedthere is no way to say with certainty whether the water caused the illnesses, particularly since the doctors or health clinics people went to see wouldn't have had any reason to suspect water quality problems.

Still, Borlase contends the water quality at Parlee Beach has garnered national attention and will keep people away this summer.

"People have been communicating throughout Canada and to the tourists that regularly come that the water quality at Parlee Beach is questionable and people are not willing totake that risk, especially people with children," he said.

"They come to Parlee Beach to swim and they want to be sure that it's safe for their kids to swim."

Borlase said he has also spoken to area cottage owners who are upset because the beach is the reason they chose to locate there and if the beach is "not available to them, there' s no reason for them to stay."

'A start'

He describes the government's announcement as "a start," but finds the plan short on details and believes the proposed timelines for changes are ambitious.

He wantsto see the government to commit to following federal guidelines, continue sampling throughout the summer months, and add a designation that would actually close the beach "so people would be aware how serious the level of contamination was."

Last month, Health Minister Victor Boudreaudisputed the 17-day discrepancy and said park staff followed the guidelines set out by the province.

But he announced the government had createda multi-department committee to review water-quality guidelines and come up with recommendations in time for the next tourism season.

The guidelines allowParleeBeach to remain open when its E. coli and fecal bacteria levels would close it to swimmers under tougher federalguidelines.

New Brunswick came up withits own standards for determining what levels offecalbacteria human and animal waste should meritgood, fair or poor ratings.