Business owners band together to promote 'truth about Parlee Beach'

A group of  business owners in Shediac is banding together to promote what it says are the real facts about Parlee Beach.

The popular beach has suffered from decreasing attendance — including a visitor drop of 25 per cent last summer, ever since word of its water-contamination problems spread.

• Province quietly tackles Parlee Beach's 'bacteria reservoir' ​
• Parlee Beach's tainted image hurts businesses near marquee attraction

The move is the latest attempt by some to restore a positive image for the beach.

In June, an article in The Insider, a U.S. online magazine, placed Parlee in a list of 13 dirtiest beaches in world, along with polluted beaches in Brazil, India and Senegal.

The blog is not a mainstream publication, but regardless, the New Brunswick Department of Tourism threatened to sue if the article was not pulled from the website.

Public image campaign

Now, a group called Citizens of the Truth about Parlee Beach, led by Shediac business owners who have suffered from the dwindling numbers, has launched a website — and a public campaign.

The group hired public relations firm M5 to help lead the efforts.

"We think the media coverage in the last two, three years doesn't reflect the facts," Luc LeBlanc, owner of the Parlee Beach motel, told Radio-Canada last week.

"Some groups suggest the beach is polluted," he said. "Based on the facts in 2017 and 2018, we consider that's not the case."

Last summer, the office of the chief medical officer of health found the water was unsafe for swimming eight times because of high levels of fecal bacteria.

"There's too much misinformation," said LeBlanc.

Bashes environmental groups

The group's position is that environmentalists have given the popular beach a bad reputation, and that reports about the poor water quality are simply false or unfounded.

LeBlanc believes the water is safe for swimming, and he accuses environmental groups of misrepresenting the facts in an attempt to stop development along the shore.

"They'll take whatever means for that," LeBlanc told Radio-Canada. "Us, it's only truth we're after — no ulterior motives."

So far this summer, no-swimming advisories have been issued twice because of fecal bacteria — one after a sample found bacteria almost 30 times above safe levels.

The group said because many more samples turned up within accepted standards, there is no chronic issue at Parlee Beach, echoing what the province has been saying in the last few months, including Health Minister Benoît Bourque, who told CBC News in an interview the water quality at Parlee Beach was excellent and there was no risk to young children or the elderly.

Flip-flopping

When the controversy surrounding Parlee Beach broke out two years ago, the province initially denied there was a water quality problem.

After CBC's reporting, the government acknowledged the pollution going back decades and put new measures in place, including following the guidelines for Canadian recreational water quality.

Business owners have agreed the government's action has been a good thing and would like to see that continue.

The province began work to replace the beach's sewage system, which a report said could be leaking, and the work will be completed in the fall.

It is also doing a study this summer on the impact that private septic tanks at cottages and RVs could have on the water quality.