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.
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.
Testing inside the court building will start on Monday. County spokesman Bill Mullan said the county’s Health and Facilities Management Divisions and the county’s water consultant are working on a plan for testing, which needs to follow certain protocols. The testing must be done by qualified personnel and may take up to two weeks to get test results back.
The county purchased 44 2-micron filters for water faucets throughout the county. They installed two 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 says 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.”