Help promised for iconic N.B. beach

With its long ribbon of sandy shores, New Brunswick’s Parlee Beach is one of the top tourist draws in Atlantic Canada, boasting the warmest salt water in Canada.

Last summer, though, the famous provincial park at Shediac, N.B., was plagued by reports that human and animal waste in the water posed a health risk.

Tests pinpointed quality concerns on 45 days, but those flocking to the beach weren’t always warned about the problem.

“It became a risk factor, and people started to worry about it,” said Lois Corbett, executive director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.

The beach on the Northumberland Strait is Shediac’s economic lifeline in the summer, attracting more than 350,000 visitors every season. They come for the sun, the sand and, more importantly, what is touted as the warmest ocean surf north of the Carolinas.

“This is a tourist destination icon for people who are beach goers,” said Jacques LeBlanc, the town’s mayor. “There is no better sunrise and sunset than at Parlee Beach.”

The frequent reports about fecal matter and E. coli bacteria didn’t look good for the town, he said.

“I was very concerned with the things I was hearing,” LeBlanc said. “It’s very important to maintain the brand and the reputation.”

The provincial government did not respond to a request for an interview earlier this week. On Wednesday, it joined with the federal government to announce a cleanup plan that critics say was long overdue.

Meanwhile, the source of the pollution remains a mystery. Possible culprits include local septic systems, careless boaters, storm run-off, sewage lagoons and fertilizer seeping from farms along the Scoudouc River.

There were no reports of illness last summer, but local residents along the Northumberland Strait banded together to demand government action.

Corbett said problems with water quality testing started more than a decade ago when the New Brunswick government decided it would use its own guidelines rather than Health Canada’s, which are based on World Health Organization standards.

If the federal guidelines had been in place, there probably would have been more warnings, she said.