Bathurst swimming spot closes during temporary diversion of sewage into harbour

A popular swimming spot in Bathurst is closed temporarily for maintenance, leaving some people on social media upset about the timing and the introduction of raw sewage into the water.

Luc Foulem, the communications manager for the City of Bathurst, said the swimming ban at Youghall Beach, at the mouth of Bathurst Harbour, is necessary for "critical" maintenance at the wastewater treatment plant.

Untreated sewage will be diverted into the harbour and eventually out to sea, Foulem said, but sizable tidal currents will quickly wash it out. 

"The work that … needs to be done is critical in nature, because if we don't have the opportunity to do that kind of work, the risk of having a substantial failure at the wastewater treatment plant would lead to a much more serious nature event than what we have now," Foulem told Information Morning in the Summer.

In consultation with the Department of Environment, Foulem said, water-quality testing will be done to ensure the results are back to normal — leading to what he expects will be a 48-hour closure at most.

"We want to … reassure the public — this is not a long-standing no swim order."

On Wednesday, the city posted a message advising residents that the beach would be closed until further notice — including the volleyball court. 

But later that night, it posted an update clarifying that once the four-hour bout of maintenance work is complete, water quality testing will be conducted and restrictions "are not expected to exceed 24 to 48 hours."

The update also said the volleyball court would now remain open, as well as walking areas and green spaces at Youghall Beach Park.

"We did look at closing down the volleyball courts yesterday as a precautionary measure because of its closeness to the beach," said Foulem. 

"But after reviewing … the Department of Environment documents, we felt it was OK to open that up again."

Two maintenance projects are planned for the Thursday closure, Foulem said. 

The work will involve the replacement of the main power switch for the facility and one of the three main pumps that is out of commission at the moment. 

City says it had no choice with maintenance timing

Under the city's original post, some people expressed frustration with the timing of the maintenance. 

While Bathurst isn't included in the heat warning covering part of the province, Environment Canada's forecast says Bathurst could see a high of 28 C on Thursday with a humidex of 34.

Foulem acknowledged the timing is not ideal, and a project like this would have been preferred for late fall or early winter. Under the circumstances, however, there was no choice.

He said there was a similar closure in March.

"Obviously, in March, this kind of notice would not have the same type of traction," said Foulem.

"Repairs that were done then were not satisfactory … so we had to reschedule.

"Because of the nature of the operation — with three main pumps working at the facility, one being down presently, which needs to be replaced, and another one that is somewhat close to faltering — it put us in a situation that we had no option but to make the application and do the work at this time."