City health officials late Tuesday confirmed the presence of Legionella bacteria in the water system of an East Village apartment complex called Haven Plaza, where at least two residents have contracted the potentially deadly Legionnaires’ disease in the last year.
The water system serves 371-units across the complex’s five buildings and was tested after the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) last month notified residents of 1 Haven Plaza of the two Legionnaire’s cases.
Councilmember Harvey Epstein said he was told that in the last two weeks, a third Haven Plaza resident also tested positive for the disease, but DOHMH officials said they have no reports of a third case.
Dana Cruz, president of the Haven Plaza tenant association, noted that as of late Tuesday, DOHMH had yet to officially notify residents of the test results.
“We are still waiting for official notice of the test results,” she said. “There seems to be no sense of urgency to notify the tenants that are actually at risk of illness. It seems everyone else, including the media, knew of the water contamination results while tenants are just learning of the dire situation.”
“It’s disappointing and frankly dangerous,” she added.
In response to The City Reporter’s questions, William Fowler, DOHMH spokesperson, said, “The risk of getting sick from a building’s water system is very low, especially for healthy people. As part of our evaluation, we worked with building management to promptly test the buildings’ water system, and the test results have confirmed the presence of Legionella bacteria.”
Legionnaires’ disease is a respiratory ailment similar to pneumonia that can be fatal if not treated quickly. It’s found in water vapor, not drinking water, so DOHMH had earlier in May advised tenants age 50 or older, tenants who smoke or have chronic lung disease or have a weakened immune system that they should not take showers and to run the water slowly if they take baths.
The managers of the properties, Catholic Homes, an affiliate of the Archdiocese, and Wavecrest Management, declined to answer questions about what they plan to do in response to the test results.
In a statement, the managers said, “Building management is working closely with DOHMH and has already retained external consultants to ensure all appropriate measures are taken.”
Councilmember Epstein said all the tenants of Haven Plaza should be tested, and the water system fully remediated.
“We’ve been concerned about this for months,” he said. “We really need the city to take immediate action for the safety of the residents.”
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