To the people in Harlem who’ve been sickened or lost loved ones to Legionnaires’ disease: my heart is with you. With six deaths and more than 100 cases to date, this outbreak was preventable. While the priority right now must be to stop it before more lives are lost, it is critical for city and state officials to also focus on what policies should be put in place that are proactive and preventative.
Legionella — the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ — is found naturally in soil and source water. When Legionella is not adequately filtered and treated at the water treatment plant, it travels in our water distribution systems and into the plumbing of our homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses.
New York City is the only place in the country with an EPA “filtration avoidance” determination, meaning most of its water, including water serving Central Harlem, is unfiltered. Unlike many states, New York also lacks any statutory, minimum disinfectant residual requirements for treatment (chlorine) in the distribution system which leaves room for dangerous pathogens to thrive throughout the water system.
In a 2024 report to the EPA related to its filtration avoidance, New York acknowledged that the level of chlorine used to kill Legionella and other bacteria was quite low with some samples showing zero disinfectant. This makes vigilance even more critical.
And yet, the city’s Health Department has told residents in the impacted ZIP codes that it’s safe to use the water in their buildings. Has the city tested building water systems in Central Harlem to confirm there’s no Legionella? If not, this advice is worse than misleading — it’s dangerous.
Health Department officials have also made patently false statements claiming that the bacteria is not known to be in the buildings’ indoor plumbing. City officials should review state Department of Health guidance on Legionnaires’: “The key to preventing [Legionnaires’ disease] is maintenance of the water systems in which Legionella grow (e.g. in hot tubs, cooling towers, hot water tanks, large building water distribution systems, and decorative fountains).”
City officials should already know how common Legionella is. The General Services Administration’s own testing has found the bacteria in multiple government buildings — including in dozens of locations in the plumbing system of a NYC federal building which was later tied to a case by one of its employees.
The reality is where you look for the bacteria, you will find it. After disruptions like water main work, hydrant breaks, construction, or heavy rainfall and flooding — like Harlem saw in mid-July — biofilms in pipes can release bacteria downstream to residents.
Ten years ago, after the Bronx outbreak, New York City passed a law which narrowly regulates one type of water-using equipment. But the same water used by a building that has this equipment also flows through every faucet and shower — the NYC Health Department has inaccurately stated that they are two separate water systems. This is false.
Over the last decade, we’ve seen hundreds of sporadic cases and outbreaks tied to building water systems in the city: NYCHA housing, senior facilities, workplaces, apartment complexes, you name it.
We need to move from reaction to prevention, and that means covering the whole water system from source to tap. New Jersey recently passed a law to require water management programs for both water utilities and buildings, stronger investigations, public education, and case tracking. Illinois has similar rules to mitigate risks upstream.
The CDC and EPA have both called for more comprehensive water management to control Legionella comprehensively, not just one potential exposure point. Even the NYS Department of Health has issued a guide to reduce risk of exposure to Legionella bacteria at home and I couldn’t agree more that the public deserves far greater education, awareness and transparency related to this disease and the waterborne bacteria that causes it.
This holistic approach is vital, especially since 96% of Legionnaires’ cases are sporadic and not tied to outbreaks. The science has advanced, but the city’s approach hasn’t.
New Yorkers deserve better than piecemeal policies and false assurances. We need to ensure that the lessons learned from recent outbreaks lead to meaningful action rather than complacency. NYC must get serious about comprehensive water safety, or we’ll keep repeating this deadly cycle. The time for action is now and our health and lives depend on it.
Brockovich is an environmental activist. As a clerk for attorney Ed Masry, Erin was instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) in 1993 involving groundwater contamination in Hinkley, Calif. She is also the author of “Superman’s Not Coming: Our National Water Crisis and What We the People Can Do About It.”
