A New York attorney representing victims of Legionnaires’ disease says New York State’s new cooling tower law is a long-overdue response that should have been enacted before a deadly outbreak on Manhattan’s Upper East Side claimed seven lives.
On August 5, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation requiring owners and operators of New York City cooling towers to certify twice each year that their systems have been inspected, tested, cleaned, and disinfected in accordance with the city’s Administrative Code. The new law requires cooling tower owners to correct maintenance deficiencies within 48 hours and notify the Department of Buildings within 24 hours when testing detects microbial levels that pose a serious public health risk.
It also establishes higher penalties for noncompliance, increasing fines to $2,500 for a first violation, $7,000 for subsequent violations and up to $12,500 when violations contribute to a fatality or serious injury.
The legislation follows a month-long Upper East Side Legionnaires’ disease outbreak that killed seven people, sickened 92 others and left five hospitalized, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. During the city’s investigation, inspectors tested 183 cooling towers at 160 buildings and found Legionella bacteria in 77 cooling towers at 75 buildings. Fifty-nine contaminated towers at 58 buildings were subsequently cleaned and disinfected before the city declared the outbreak over on July 31.
It was previously reported in Long Island Life & Politics that Legionnaires’ was detected in the cooling tower atop the Suffolk County Courthouse in Riverhead. Although there were no reports of people being infected or sickened by the disease, Ronald J. Katter, founder of Katter Law Firm, said it was too early to tell.
Katter, who has represented victims of multiple Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks in New York, says the legislation is a step in the right direction but should have been implemented years ago.
“No one should have to die before the government decides stronger oversight is necessary,” Katter said. “This law acknowledges that cooling towers require stricter monitoring, but that recognition came only after seven families lost loved ones. The state and the city should have acted aggressively when the outbreak began — or better yet, before it ever happened. Public health shouldn’t depend on reacting to a tragedy.”