Three beaches unsafe for swimming north of Oshawa in last report of the summer

The Durham Region Health Department has shared the final beach safety report of the year, finding three locations are not safe to swim in this Labour Day weekend.

Durham’s Health Unit tests all the beaches weekly throughout the summer. The latest results come from samples collected on July 22. “Beaches are posted as unsafe for swimming when elevated levels of E. coli exceed the provincial standard of 200 E. coli per 100 ml of water,” the Region explained.

The safe beaches include:

• Paradise Beach (Ajax)
• Thorah Centennial Park (Brock)
• Bowmanville East, Bowmanville West, and Newcastle Beach Central (Clarington)
• Frenchman’s Bay West and Frenchman’s Bay East (Pickering)
• Heydenshore Park and Iroquois Beach (Whitby)
• Lakeview Beach East and Lakeview Beach West (Oshawa)

Three in the north were flagged as unsafe:

• Beaverton North, Beaverton South (Brock)
• Kinsmen Beach (Scugog)

Kinsmen Beach is posted due to an ongoing blue-green algae bloom near Platten Island. Lake Scugog often suffers these blooms late in the summer.

There hasn’t been any algae seen at the beach itself but the Region posted an advisory there as a precaution given the beach’s history of blooms. “If people observe algae mats that may be blue-green, olive-green, or red in colour, they are advised not to enter the water in the surrounding area as some can produce toxins which may be harmful to humans and pets.”