Vancouver Coastal Health wants to see local beaches exempt from a proposal by Transport Canada that suggests small pleasure boats be allowed to dump their sewage closer to shore.

Medical health officer Dr. Mark Lysyshyn said such a move, which is still in the public consultation phase, could potentially increase the occurrence of E. coli in local waters and lead to more frequent closures of the areas beaches. Under Transport Canadas plan, small boats carrying fewer than 15 people would be allowed to discharge sewage just one nautical mile from shore, closer than the three nautical miles that are required today.

One nautical mile is roughly the distance between Sunset and Kitsilano beaches, Lysyshyn said.

Last summer was one of the worst for E. coli at local beaches, Lysyshyn said, with West Vancouver beaches closed for much of August and favourites like Sunset Beach posting beach closed signs.

This concerned us because we dont know to what degree the water quality at the beaches is affected by small boats but thats part of the equation, Lysyshyn said. We just felt like this wasnt the right direction to go. The West Vancouver beaches were closed for almost four weeks, almost all of August, exactly when people would want to swim.

We typically have (high) counts in False Creek but this was a new problem.

Lysyshyn, in conjunction with Metro Vancouver municipalities, has sent a letter to Transport Canada outlining Vancouver Coastal Healths concerns with the proposal, which is among a series of amendments to Transport Canadas Vessel Pollution and Dangerous Chemical Regulations.

Lysyshyn notes its very difficult to police small vessels and is asking Transport Canada to maintain the status quo.

Wed like to work with them to have the beaches around our district, in Burrard Inlet, as a no-discharge area, Lysyshyn said, adding beaches are seen as great areas for recreation and physical activities. He noted municipalities, which are responsible for maintaining local beaches as well as sewage collection, have an economic incentive to keep the areas clean.

High levels of bacteria are usually blamed on fecal contamination from human or animal sources.

Read more from the original source:

Pleasure boats may be allowed to dump sewage closer to Vancouver-area beaches