‘We need to make sure that our beaches are safe and healthy’

by Nancy Russell, originally posted on January 6, 2017

Green Party Leader Peter Bevan-Baker is calling on the P.E.I. government to start testing the water quality at some Island beaches by the start of the next tourism season.

“I think what we have to avoid is a situation where people come to P.E.I., get sick, and it’s traced back to a contaminant in the water at one of our beaches,” said Bevan-Baker.

“Can you imagine what sort of a disaster that would be for the Island in all kinds of ways?”

Beaches just across the Strait

Bevan-Baker raised the issue in the P.E.I. legislature, pointing to Parlee and Murray beaches across the Northumberland Strait in New Brunswick which have ongoing issues with bacteria in the water.

“Last summer in New Brunswick, there were a couple of beaches where there were unacceptable levels of coliform bacteria such that they should have closed the beaches and that didn’t actually happen,” explained Bevan-Baker.

“I think we need regular, routine monitoring in such a way that we can be warned if there are increased levels of dangerous bacteria,” said Bevan-Baker.

When Bevan-Baker raised the issue in the legislature, the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Alan McIsaac responded that it is Fisheres and Oceans Canada that does water quality testing on P.E.I.

“They send the word out,” McIsaac explained. “If there is an issue they put a posting on the shoreline so that anyone who visits the shoreline can see that this area is to some degree contaminated and there’s no fishing or swimming in that area as well.”

However, Bevan-Baker doesn’t think those warnings go far enough, because Fisheries and Oceans Canada does not have the authority to close beaches.

“The real answer is, and my question was, what are we doing to protect our water, what are we doing to measure whether there are contaminants?” he said. “The honest answer is we’re doing nothing and that’s the alarming thing for me.”

South shore beaches at risk

Canadian guidelines dictate a beach should be closed to swimmers if fecal bacteria levels reach a value above 70 per 100 ml of water on any day. That happened several times at Parlee last summer.

Bevan-Baker pointed out that Parlee is just across the Strait from several beaches in his district, including Argyle Shore and Victoria.

He worries that the Northumberland Strait doesn’t have the same degree of water flow as P.E.I.’s Gulf shore, which has more tidal movement, putting beaches on the south shore at greater risk for potential contamination.

“So I think we need to be proactive on this and I think it’s a fairly simple and relatively inexpensive thing to do.”

The P.E.I. tourism department does provide reports on eight Island beaches, with information on water and air temperature and whether a lifeguard is present, but nothing about the quality of the water.

“I’m concerned that there is nothing in place to ensure people who use Prince Edward Island beaches that they are swimming in clean, safe water,” said Bevan-Baker.

The province says it will review testing regimens in other provinces, but currently does not do routine testing of beach water quality at provincial parks. It says if a concern or complaint is brought to the province’s attention, environmental health will do tests and, if necessary, signage will be posted.

In 2011, P.E.I.’s chief health officer Dr. Heather Morrison studied water contamination as a result of sewage overflows in Charlottetown Harbour, and found problems after heavy rain. Fisheries and Oceans Canada had raised concerns about water quality, and shut down shellfish harvesting on several occasions in both 2010 and 2011.