New water-advisory system at Parlee Beach errs on second day

A brand newwater-advisorysystem for Parlee Beach has already suffered an error on its second day of operation.

The protocol took effect last Friday, replacing the previous system that saw water sampling botched in a way that underestimated fecal contamination counts last August.

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But Wednesday afternoon, the acting chief medical officer of health revealed that a no-swimming advisory should have been issued Saturday but wasn't because of a mistake.

Dr. Jennifer Russell said in a statement that 32.5 millimetres of rain fell at Parlee Beach on Saturday, more than three times the 10-millimetre threshold that would trigger a no-swim advisory.

"However, such an advisory was not issued on that day," Russellsaid.

She said her office regretted the error and asked for the public's patience.

After heavy rains, according to the protocol, people are to beadvised against swimming to avoid exposure to any fecalcontamination washed into the water from the sand. On Saturday, signs atParleesaying the beach was fine for swimming were left in place.

'Will not be repeated'

Russell said the errorwas made because the on-call regional medical officer of health, who would normally issue the advisory because of the rain,was busy dealing with "a very urgent public health" matter.

The new protocol didn't call for a backup person but it now will, shesaid.

"I have added an extra step in the [standard operating procedures] to ensure that such a situation does not happen again," she said. "The protocol will include a backup person who will always be monitoring as well."

The weekend error allowed her to identify "a gap in the process that has been rectified," Russell said.

"I can personally assure you that such an error will not be repeated again."

The advisory also said no water samples were taken at Parlee Beach on Saturday "because of safety concerns" as a result of the bad weather.

But it said samples taken before and after Saturday showed the water was within the guidelines that allowed the beach to be open.

The advisory comes the same day CBC News revealed documents dating back to 1998 that show provincial officials trying to avoid closures that would harm the beach's reputation.

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A government spokesperson said Tuesday "it would be difficult to comment on conversations that occurred more than 15 years ago" and the province was "focused on moving forward," including with the new testing system.