The New York City council has passed a bill aimed at preventing another Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak like the one this past summer in Harlem.
The bill requires cooling towers to be tested every month and mandates building owners do treatments on them in warmer weather. This comes after seven people died and 114 got sick from Legionnaires’ Disease linked to Legionella bacteria that formed in Harlem building cooling towers this past summer. Councilwoman Lynn Schulman is the bill’s sponsor.
“The recent Legionnaire’s outbreak in Harlem reminded us how quickly legionella can spread when cooling towers are not properly inspected and maintained.”
The city has hired more cooling tower inspectors since the outbreak.