Starting this summer, Parlee Beach will adopt a new water quality monitoring protocol that’s in line with federal guidelines.
This announcement was made during a briefing in Fredericton and follows controversy over why reports of poor water quality at the beach were not made public.
Acting chief medical officer of health for the province Dr. Jennifer Russell says under the new protocol, Public Health has an expanded role in water quality monitoring.
“Public health officials will be the ones to recieve and interpret all monitoring results once they come back from laboratory analysis. Public Health staff will then direct park staff to post the advisory signs indicating whether the water is suitable for swimming or whether a no-swimming advisory is in effect,” says Dr. Russell.
There is also a mechanism for a full beach closure and a sign to go along with that.
“This would be only under very, very rare circumstances. So examples of such events that may warrant the issuing of a beach closure include disease outbreak, a chemical or oil spill, fish or wildlife die-off, visible debris, metal or sharp objects, etc.”
Under the new protocol samples will be taken daily from five locations and any public health advisories will be posted online.
Environment and local government minister Serge Rouselle says work on the file is ongoing to fulfill their commitment to identify the sources of bacterial contamination in the Shediac Bay watershed.
“What we have learned so far is that there is no silver bullet to fix this problem and the steering committee…continues to investigate short, medium and long term solutions to provide government with a clearer picture to address and mitigate the contamination,” Rouselle says.
Murray Beach and all other provincial parks in New Brunswick will also be getting a water quality monitoring protocol “based on the principles of the protocol developed for Parlee Beach,” a news release reads.
