Three Durham beaches closed – 11 beaches from Pickering to Newcastle safe for swimming

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Published July 2, 2021 at 4:52 pm

empty-bluffers-beach

Three beaches in Durham Region have been declared unsafe for swimming this week, due to high levels of bacteria.

The good news for people wanting to beat the heat this weekend? Eleven beaches are good to go for public swimming.

Durham Region Health Department officials test the waters at all 14 public beaches every summer, with testing beginning this year on June 7, when all 14 beaches passed.

The latest test on June 28 showed Beaverton South and Thorah Centennial Park – both on Lake Simcoe – and Elgin Pond in Uxbridge failing the test, prompting ‘Closed’ signs to be installed.

This is the second fail in a row for Thorah Centennial Park, located just south of Beaverton.

The other 11 beaches – Beaverton North, Paradise Beach (Ajax), Frenchman’s Bay East and Frenchman’s Bay West (Pickering), Whitby Beach, Lakeview Beach East and Lakeview Beach West (Oshawa), and all three Clarington beaches (Bowmanville East, Bowmanville West and Newcastle) all passed.

The June 21 testing saw four beaches fail, including Lakeview West in Oshawa, Beaverton North and Thorah in Brock Township, and Bowmanville East.

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