Legionella Found At West Orange Town Hall After Worker Gets Sick

WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange town officials announced Thursday that an environmental company has discovered elevated levels of legionella bacteria – the organisms that lead to Legionnaire’s Disease – in the water at Town Hall.

The investigation began after a longtime municipal employee was hospitalized with Legionnaire’s Disease about two weeks ago. The employee worked at two buildings in West Orange, one of which was Town Hall. It’s still unknown if the worker actually contracted the disease from the building he worked in, officials said.

The employee is “making a recovery,” West Orange Business Administrator John Sayers said.

According to a municipal advisory, after learning of the employee’s sickness, the township immediately engaged a certified outside environmental company to test water sources at two buildings where the employee worked to determine if either had “potentially unsafe levels of legionella bacteria.”

On Thursday, test results came back, revealing that one of the buildings was free of legionella. However, five of 10 samples from the second building, Town Hall, had “elevated levels” of the bacteria, officials said.

Authorities didn’t release the location of the bacteria-free building to protect the privacy of the employee.

The township is moving forward to test its other municipal buildings, officials said. In the meanwhile, authorities have disconnected the potable water supply at the building with elevated bacteria levels and are taking other “remedial steps,” including installing new filters at Town Hall.

“The township is giving this health issue the importance and attention it demands,” Mayor Robert Parisi said Thursday.

“We have been assured by outside consultants and experts that by shutting down the potable water supply, installing filters which are being delivered today, replacing the hot water heater which has already been disconnected and making plumbing repairs that the conditions will be remedied and safe,” Parisi said. “We will insure that all prescribed remedies are in place as quickly as possible.”

The township provided the following information about Legionnaire’s Disease:

“Legionnaire’s Disease is a severe form of pneumonia, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s caused by the bacterium, Legionella pneumophila and found in potable and non-potable water systems.”

For questions or more information, contact the West Orange Health Department at 973-325-4120 or email healthdept@westorange.org

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Photo: Google Maps (West Orange Town Hall)