Adam Gray
Reuters: Harlem residents have endured a number of stressful weeks since a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak struck the community this summer. Ninety people were sickened by the pneumonia-like illness, according to the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; 15 of the victims wound up being hospitalized, and three of them died.
But the community received good news at a Tuesday night town hall meeting. According to acting Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse, the number of Legionnaires cases has been on a decline, meaning that the measures taken to curb the spread of the Legionella bacteria that causes the illness were working.
What were those measures? Inspecting and cleaning cooling towers on the rooftops around the community. Legionella thrives in warm, humid environments, and cooling towers that are not properly maintained by property owners are as inviting to this form of bacteria as a welcome mat.
Moreover, when Legionella is airborne, it can easily spread to other cooling towers and contaminate those that are also improperly maintained. This resulted in this summer’s outbreak in Harlem — and outbreaks that have occurred in other communities in recent years.
How could this happen in a city like New York, with a streetscape lined with high-rise apartment buildings topped with cooling towers that control central air conditioning and heating, and so many of these machines are unkempt? Simple — according to published reports, staffing shortages have resulted in the fewest cooling tower inspections in years.
It’s an unacceptable situation that must be addressed. The city must do its due diligence to ensure that every cooling tower in every corner of New York meets all health code standards and is inspected twice annually for Legionella bacteria. This will prevent the kind of outbreaks that cause death and harm to scores of New Yorkers every year.
Legionnaires’ disease may not be as common as the flu or COVID-19, but hundreds of New Yorkers are sickened by it every year. A number of them die from infection. Mass vaccinations aren’t needed to stop this disease and the bacteria that cause it; only proper inspection and maintenance of plumbing devices, such as cooling towers, that heat up water.
Local state Sen. Cordell Cleare is pushing for state legislation that would require more frequent cooling tower inspections and double the fines against property owners who fail to maintain the devices properly.
It’s a good first step toward making cooling towers safe and stopping Legionnaires’ disease, but it cannot be an unfunded mandate. The city must do its part to hire and train more inspectors to ensure universal compliance with state and city law — and prevent another needless outbreak.
