The city is warning residents to swim at their own risk after tests found high levels of E. coli bacteria at five Toronto beaches. The city on Friday said beaches at Marie Curtis Park, Sunnyside, Centre Island, Ward’s Island and Cherry Beach were unsafe for swimming after testing samples collected on Thursday, two days after flash flooding overwhelmed parts of the city’s sewer system. The closure of the beaches, which is not unusual following heavy rainstorms, comes as a water monitoring group is calling on the city to clean up sewage that entered the harbour during the storm.Swim Drink Fish, which regularly tests water in the harbour, found E. coli levels far exceeding the provincial threshold at three locations in the harbour in tests conducted Thursday. One location, Bathurst Quay found levels greater than 241 times higher than the accepted standard.In a letter to the city, Swim Drink Fish said it has found evidence of “a major sewage spill that poses a threat to public and environmental health.”“We ask that you arrange for cleanup crews to remove the waste, condoms, needles, tampons, and other debris immediately,” the letter reads. The five beaches closed Friday each registered more than 100 E. coli bacteria per 100 millilitres, the provincial standard for safety, in tests conducted by the city. The highest reported level, at Sunnyside Beach, found 659 E. coli bacteria per 100 millilitres.Samples collected on Tuesday, before the storm, found two beaches were listed as being in unswimmable conditions. Last weekend, all the Toronto beaches met the safe swimming standard, according to city data.The city, which hasn’t said whether increased E. coli levels are a result of sewage overflow during Tuesday’s flooding, warns the public not to swim in Lake Ontario during or after heavy storms and floods.Six other city beaches remain open Friday. They are Hanlan’s Point and Gibraltar Point Beaches on the Islands, Woo ...
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