There have been 121 cases of the disease, which is a type of pneumonia that can be especially risky to the elderly and those with underlying health issues.
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Building owners with cooling towers in New York must register them with the state and have them inspected within the next 30 days as part of emergency regulations Monday to fight against a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease.
Cuomo also announced a hotline that the public can use to report cases or ask questions.
“This summer’s outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease caused concern in communities across the state, and today we are moving forward to help prevent future outbreaks and keep our neighborhoods safe”, Gov. Cuomo said. When a reporter called the number, 1-888-769-7243, a recording announced that there was nobody available to take the call.
Howard Zucker, commissioner of the State Department of Health, says cooling towers can promote the growth of bacteria that leads to Legionnaires’ disease, and regulations will target that source of bacteria.
“Cooling towers have been implicated in several outbreaks of Legionnaire’s Disease in recent years”.
Cuomo’s office says the new regulations were crafted “in consultation” with the office of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Like the city’s rules, the statewide regulations also subject building owners to civil and criminal penalties for failing to comply.
After the City Council last week passed legislation to require the inspection of city cooling towers for the legionella bacteria-which killed 12 people in a South Bronx outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease this summer-Gov.
All cooling towers must be certified by Nov. 1, 2016 and again annually every Nov. 1. If an owner does not properly register, certify, inspect, clean or disinfect their cooling tower the Department or local health department may determine that such condition constitutes a nuisance and may take such action as authorized by law.
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The emergency regulations are in effect for 90 days, after which they will become permanent.
