City Data Shows Widespread Public Health Hazard in Cooling Towers

New data released by the New York City Department of Health suggest that building owners are flagrantly ignoring regulations put into place three years ago to prevent the spread of Legionnaires' disease — right as another outbreak of the deadly disease has struck Upper Manhattan.

Following a severe outbreak of Legionnaires' in the Bronx in 2015, the New York City Council passed legislation that forces owners of cooling towers to have them inspected regularly and cleaned immediately if they're shown to have significant levels of the legionella bacteria.

According to a health department annual report provided to WNYC, 6,447 cooling towers were inspected last year. The city issued 75,822 violations last year — an average of nearly 12 violations for each tower inspected. Of those, 5,496 violations were considered public health hazards — meaning the property owner didn't clean the tower when it was found to have high levels of the bacteria, or hasn't taken a recent sample to test for legionella or didn't have a plan to regularly clean it. 

People at street level can contract Legionnaires' Disease at street level by breathing in water mist created by cooling towers on the roofs of buildings. The outbreak in Upper Manhattan, identified earlier this month, has sickened 23 people and killed one so far.

LL77 Final Report to Council 2018 by Jermain Gibson on Scribd

A health department spokesperson told WNYC it acknowledges the total count of cooling tower violations appears to be high, but noted that the average number of violations per inspection fell throughout 2017. 

The report also shows that the number of individuals diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease in New York City spiked by more than 60 percent over the previous year. Some experts caution there are more reported cases of Legionnaires' as awareness and reporting regarding the disease improves. But a report from WNYC/Gothamist earlier this year showed similar increased rates around the country, suggesting the New York City law is having a limited impact in curbing Legionnaires' Disease. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show New York City is on track to have a record-breaking year of Legionnaires' Cases in 2018.