News Release                   For Immediate Release

December 8, 2003

Lake Huron Beaches in Bruce County are Safe

An article written by Tom Spears for CanWest News Service recently appeared in numerous newspapers across the country, including the Ottawa Citizen and the National Post.  Tom Spears’ article, which appeared in papers in mid-November, stated that Ontario Lake Huron beaches are permanently polluted, specifically a 40km stretch of Lake Huron south of Bruce County.

The Grey Bruce Health Unit wants to reassure residents of Grey and Bruce Counties that their Lake Huron beaches are safe for recreational use.

The Public Health Unit monitors Lake Huron recreational water quality along the Bruce County shoreline. We are concerned because the article does not accurately describe the beaches in our area and leaves readers with the impression that our beaches are often unsafe for bathing.  This is not the case.  In the past nine years on our shoreline only five Lake Huron beaches were posted with warning signs and those were posted for very short times.  For example, Sauble Beach, one of the longest and most popular beaches, has never been posted and the average testing results for this year show that it is almost at drinking water standards.

Lakes and rivers are not swimming pools.  They are not expected to be safe for drinking without treatment.   They are natural bodies of water and are expected to have bacteria, debris and sediment in them.  This is part of nature’s cycle and the natural life of a river and lake.  A natural body of water without bacteria and sediment would be a dead lake with no living organisms in it.   We monitor to make sure that the level of such material remains stable.  We also want to identify harmful algae species or bacteria that indicate contamination by sewage. 

Beach water sampling is intended to be a tool to evaluate risk to bathers.  It is not the best method to assess or monitor pollution levels in a river or lake.  There are more accurate and more appropriate measures to assess the level of pollutants in sediment, vegetation, fish or shore birds.

In natural waters many factors may cause a temporary increase in bacterial numbers and turbidity.  These include heavy rainfall, wind, and increased numbers of boats or swimmers.  Once the disturbance is over these counts promptly return to normal levels.  Steadily increasing counts or a change from the usual bacteria of vegetative decay to those associated with sewage are triggers for our concern.

We are not able to have a continuous presence at all the public beaches we monitor on our Lake Huron shoreline.  Thus we have posted each beach with a sign to help bathers decide whether or not to swim that day.   We also indicate to the public when a beach has been shown to harbour “Swimmer’s Itch” which is a minor skin disease caused by a parasite.  The local doctors report this disease to us as well as other water borne reportable diseases.

Grey Bruce Health Unit continues to treat recreational water quality as a summer priority.  Our beaches are clean and safe for recreational use unless posted as unsafe. 

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For more information:

Dr. Hazel Lynn

Medical Officer of Health

Public Health

(519) 376-9420 or 1-800-263-3456