PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — Oakland County did not have a plan to routinely test its water system inside its buildings. A custodial employee was recently diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease, revealing the presence of Legionella bacteria in the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office headquarters.
Watch Heather Catallo's video report:
The 7 Investigators have confirmed from county officials there was not a plan in place to regularly monitor the water system that feeds all 45 buildings that house the county’s 5,300 employees.
Watch our previous report about the Legionella bacteria found below:
In addition to the current employee who was diagnosed with Legionnaire’s disease, county officials said in a press release on Dec. 5 that someone who was not a county employee who tested positive for Legionnaire’s disease in April had listed the Oakland County Circuit Court building as one of the places they visited during their exposure period.
"Why was there no plan in place to test the water system in Oakland County?" asked 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.
"So we are working on a plan right now, our risk management team, our health division, as well as our facilities management in terms of what water management should look like and that we're meeting the best standards according to what the CDC requires," said Bill Mullan, Oakland County Public Information Officer. We are supplied by GLWA, and in general, when it comes to Legionella, testing for Legionella only occurs when you get a case, either that's directly connected to a facility or two cases that list the same facility."
Testing inside the court building will start on Monday. Mullan said the testing must be done by qualified personnel and may take up to two weeks to get test results back.
Mullan says the county has contracts with an industrial hygienist consultant, who is working on a plan to expand testing to other buildings, including the Oakland County jail.
The county purchased 44 .2-micron filters for water faucets throughout the county. They installed 8 of them inside the Board of Commissioners area of the building in advance of Thursday’s meeting. The 44 filters cost about $14,000.
Meanwhile, Mullan said the sheriff’s headquarters at Building 38 East has been “completely remediated, which included a chlorine flush and installation of .2-micron filters on faucets.”
During the Oakland County Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday night, Commissioner Charlie Cavell (D-Ferndale) asked for records of the county's testing procedures to be released.
"I have a resolution requesting the release of our water system management and mitigation procedures and related information over the last three years from our risk management division. And in light of recent reports of Legionella, I’d ask this to be a suspension of the rules passed immediately," said Cavell.
The commission voted down that resolution 15-to-4. Commissioner Cavell, along with Commissioner Kristen Nelson (D-Waterford), Commissioner Michael Spisz (R-Oxford), and Commissioner Karen Joliat (R-Waterford), were the only four to vote for the release of those county water testing records.
Commissioner Nelson says the public and county employees deserve answers.
"We have many different kinds of risk management plans. How we didn’t have anything to account for this is really alarming," said Nelson. "We need to start asking better questions and demanding quicker responses, because this is a serious matter."