PORTAGE, Ind. (AP) — The opening of a new lakefront park scheduled for fall has some concerned the water won't be safe for fishing and swimming because of its proximity to a contaminated waterway.

Portage Lakefront Park was expected to debut around September as part of the Marquette Plan, which aims to open more of Indiana's Lake Michigan shore to the public. The new park is near Burns Ditch, a man-made waterway that has been found to have high levels of E. coli, mercury and PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls.

"When you look at how Burns Ditch was designed, that water will go straight out to the new beach," said Tim Sullivan, a member of the Portage Port Authority. "What bothers me as a taxpayer, here's all these millions being spent on the Marquette Plan and the whole thing can go down the drain if the beach is polluted all the time and they have to close the beach."

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management found Burns Ditch had high levels of E. coli bacteria and fish tested positive for high levels of cancer-causing PCBs.

"It is known that at times the Burns Waterway can be contaminated. While the adjacent beach would not always be impacted, it is possible that at times it would be," said a May 2007 environmental impact study for the Portage Lakefront Park.

Portage parks officials were responsible for testing water in the park area for E. coli, but have not yet done so because of ongoing construction.

"We certainly will be doing that testing once it's open to the public," Portage Parks Superintendent Carl Fisher said.

"There certainly is the intention to have swimming out there and sunbathing, and using the beach. It's meant to be a regular public beach."

Nearby Ogden Dunes beach was among the cleanest beaches on Indiana's Lake Michigan shoreline in 2007 with only six closures. Jeorse Park beach in East Chicago had 41, and some LaPorte County beaches had 22.