Council Member Shulman introduces Intro 1094 on Legionnaires' disease reporting
Lynn Schulman introduces Intro 1094 to lower the Legionella reporting threshold from 1,000 to 10 colony-forming units per milliliter, citing recent outbreaks and Canada's standard.
Councilmember Shulman, followed by Thomas Henry.
Thank you, Majority Leader.
Today I'm introducing Intro 1094, which would strengthen our city's ability to help prevent outbreaks of Legionnaire's disease before they occur.
This summer, New York City experienced two devastating clusters of Legionnaire's disease, reminding us of the serious health risks.
that Legionella composed to New Yorkers.
Currently, building owners are only required to report Legionella test results to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene when levels reach at least 1,000 colony-forming units per milliliter.
But by the time Legionella reaches that level, an outbreak may already be imminent.
This legislation would lower the reporting threshold to 10 colony-forming units per milliliter.
This would give the department earlier notice of elevated Legionella levels, allowing the city to take action before conditions become dangerous.
The testing level proposed in my legislation is a critical regulatory threshold across Canada.
In fact, 10 bacteria per milliliter is the standard action level there.
If a facility's cooling tower tests above 10 bacteria per milliliter, it triggers mandatory immediate decontamination and hyperchlorination protocols.
This method has proven to be an effective, preventive, early warning line of defense.
We should not wait until Legionella levels reach a point where an outbreak is imminent before the city has the information it needs to act.
By requiring this new threshold, we can give the department a better opportunity to identify potential risks more quickly and intervene before people get sick.
This legislation is about prevention and protecting the health of New Yorkers.
After this year's clusters, we have an opportunity to learn from what happened and take steps to prevent the next one.
And I also want to thank the Speaker for her leadership because we've had more legislation on Legionella this year than it did.
any other time.
So thank you.