After five straight days, the no-swim advisory for New Brunswick’s Parlee Beach was lifted Thursday.
For the ninth time this season, the no swimming advisory was posted due to high bacteria levels.
Residents who live in the Shediac Bay area say despite the advisory being lifted, they’re still concerned about the water quality at the beach.
Vicki Kurkowski, who owns a cottage in the area, says the community is left with many unanswered questions.
“Somebody has to start answering some questions for us,” she says. “Where is the pollution coming from? How long has it been like this?”
There have been a total of 11 no-swim advisories issued by the department of health since mid-May.
Cottage resident, Sharon Dixon says the advisories are affecting her family’s summer plans.
“It's our summer thing and I'm not very happy about the situation with the water because I’ve got people that were coming to visit and they're not coming now,” Dixon says.
Cottage owner Brad Buchanan says this season’s advisories are affecting tourism in the area.
“Cottages that are usually rented for the full season, there’s vacancies everywhere, people are just deciding to go elsewhere because of the publicity and the fact we've been finding out stuff that has been going on for years,” says Buchanan.
The Department of Tourism says there’s no indication fewer people are going to Parlee Beach this season.
The department also says visitor numbers are holding steady based on the number of parking permits that have been purchased since June.
“As far as the exposure goes we like to be truthful and transparent with people, but at the same time we want to let the public know and New Brunswickers know that our beaches are still be frequented by a lot of tourists,” says New Brunswick Tourism Minister, John Ames.
In May, the New Brunswick and federal government pledged $3 million dollars for water quality improvementsat Parlee Beach.
The government implemented new monitoring protocols for the first time following the federal policy.
People who live near the beach say they’re frustrated with the amount of time it takes for the province to produce its test results.
“The fact that is based on results from 48 hours ago is unacceptable,” says Buchanan. “There’s got to be technology out there that can tell me the quality of the water within a couple hours.”
“Fourty-eight hours from when it is tested they get the results, so they put the sign up with the line thru the swimmer and I was swimming here on Saturday,” Dixon says.
Infrastructure work to improve the water quality at Parlee Beach is anticipated to continue into 2018.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Moore.
