Parlee Beach in Shediac, N.B., was ranked among the dirtiest in the world by the blog Insider.Lee Brown/THE CANADIAN PRESS
The province of New Brunswick is threatening legal action against a blog that counted N.B.’s beloved Parlee Beach as one of the dirtiest in the world.
Francoise Roy, deputy minister in the province’s Tourism, Heritage and Culture Department, said in a letter to Nicolas Carlson, editor of the U.S. website Insider, the site would face “legal action” if Parlee isn’t removed from the piece posted on June 21. Other entries on the list include beaches sitting next to chemical plants and downstream from sewage pouring out of slums.
Parlee draws thousands of visitors each year. The long, sandy beach is an important part of the local economy, but it has long struggled with water-quality issues. Community watchdogs have been active in their criticism of the province, filing right-to-information requests and working to publicize the government’s history of opacity in addressing the situation.
The Insider story blamed Parlee’s “aging sewage system” as the reason for the beach’s pollution and notes that fecal bacteria levels meant the province had to issue no-swimming advisories eight times last summer.
Ms. Roy’s letter acknowledges the closings, but points out they amounted only to 5 per cent of the days the water was sampled. “In our opinion, this number is quite impressive in comparison with other beaches and fully contradicts the message in your article,” the letter reads.
Ms. Roy’s office directed questions to New Brunswick Health Minister Benoit Bourque, who refused to comment on the letter, but said about 99 per cent of the 1,452 water samples taken at Parlee in 2017 were below guideline limits.
“To me, that emphasizes that the water quality is very good − I would actually argue excellent − at Parlee Beach. So to say that we are one of the dirtiest beaches in the world is disturbing,” he said.
But water-quality issues are nothing new for the beach. CBC has reported the issues date back to the 1990s, when the government first began to notice high bacterial counts and directed officials to prioritize keeping the beach open using “Band-Aid” solutions so as not to worry the public and hurt the local economy.
A 2017 report by Crandall Engineering, commissioned by the province, says the 44-year-old sewage system may be to blame for the pollution, but it’s hard to tell conclusively. It also describes the beach’s lift station, which moves wastewater, as “dated,” without “proper controls and back-up for power or mechanical failures.” Other studies have blamed old septic tanks in local cottages and RVs.
The province plans to spend $1.5-million replacing the sewage system at the beach, but the repairs will come after this summer.
“If we [did] it now, we’d be shutting down for the season,” Mr. Bourque said. “We feel that the results of these studies show with a good degree of confidence that the evidence doesn’t show that that is one of the biggest issues. I would maybe argue it’s very, very low, but we do not want to take any chances and we will replace the system.”
Arthur Melanson is the vice-president of the Red Dot Association, a group of citizens pressuring the government to clean up the beach. He said he’s confident the replacement of the pipes will fix the problem, but worries about health risks in the short term.
“What about 2018 season? We’ve got a bunch of tourists coming in this year,” he said. “Why doesn’t the government commission Crandall to go back and inspect the pipe to see where there is [leakage], and if there’s leakage ... fix the leakage for 2018? End of the story.”
Insider has nearly 10 million Facebook likes. For an area that “lives off of tourists,” as Mr. Melanson said, negative press about the region’s crown jewel could be bad for the local economy.
The beach is “an important economic driver,” Mr. Bourque said. “And to scare people away from this area ... especially for something that is not accurate, it’s very, very unfortunate and it’s disappointing to say the least.”
While Mr. Melanson said the beach shouldn’t be listed among the dirtiest in the world, he said the province isn’t doing enough to keep it clean.
“It’s disappointing to have such a nice beach and then you have a question mark over your head,” he said.