'It's always been a place I've felt comfortable swimming': N.S. residents weigh in on closure of Grand Lake
A popular lake in the Halifax area remains off-limits because of an ongoing water quality issue.
Grand Lake was closed to the public last week after a woman became sick and two pets died following exposure to the water.
Oakfield Provincial Park is on the shores of Grand Lake and while the park is still open, the water is off-limits.
“I'm excited to swim…and I can't,” says park user Jennifer Lawlor.
An advisory was issued on Thursday, telling residents to avoid all contact with the water following the death of two dogs and the hospitalization of a woman.
Maggie Power says it seems early in the year for a lake as big as Grand Lake to have issues with water quality.
“It is kind of weird because it's always been a place I've felt comfortable swimming for sure, and I've always considered it to be fairly clean water," says Power.
Rapid water samples have come back inconclusive. Visual inspections by officials with Nova Scotia’s department of environment and climate change suggest a bloom of blue-green algae is the cause of the contamination.
Until the all-clear is given, residents with shallow wells within 60 metres of Grand Lake are asked to not use the water for bathing, cooking or drinking.
Until then, the Municipality of East Hants is providing water and shower facilities at the community aquatic centre.
Affected residents can also collect drinking water from the Halifax regional fire stations in Grand Lake and Wellington.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.