Legionella bacteria found in Cuyahoga County Justice Center
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Cuyahoga County confirmed Legionella bacteria was detected in the Cuyahoga County Justice Center water system.
“This is not uncommon to aging and complex water systems,” said Matthew Rymer, facility administrator for Cuyahoga County Public Works. “We have worked with our consultants to come up with the action plan, which is being implemented at this time.”
WHAT IS LEGIONELLA?
Cuyahoga County shared this explanation:
WHERE WAS LEGIONELLA FOUND?
Cuyahoga County said the legionella affects portions of these areas that share a common water system:
- Justice Center Atrium
- Jail One
- Tower One
Areas of the complex that use a different water system are not impacted, according to the county.
Cuyahoga County confirmed the courthouse is open for normal operations.
HOW WAS LEGIONELLA FOUND?
The regular testing of the justice center’s water system was conducted on Mar. 19 in accordance with the county’s Water Management Plan.
The county said the test results confirmed the presence of Legionella on Mar. 31.
However, those results were not shared with the public until April 4.
So why the wait?
“It is a complex water system; those are complex results to interpret to come up with the right interpretation to understand the risk areas. The important thing to note is that our action plan started immediately after getting the results,” said Rymer.
IS THE WATER SAFE?
Why it took officials four days to share the findings to the public is currently unknown, Cuyahoga County said “the levels of Legionella bacteria detected within the Justice Center water system are very unlikely to cause illness.”
WHAT IS BEING DONE?
These are the measures Cuyahoga County said are being taken:
According to Cleveland Clinic’s website, symptoms include coughing, muscle aches, nausea, and fever.
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