According to the Maryland Department of General Services (DGS), Legionella bacteria, the culprit behind Legionnaires’ disease, has been detected at two additional court buildings in Baltimore. The sites in question are the District Court buildings at 5800 Wabash Avenue and 700 East Patapsco Avenue. This information follows earlier reports of Legionella at the State Center office complex in Baltimore, raising the count to six municipal buildings flagged for contamination.
Legionella, known for causing severe bacterial pneumonia, poses a lethal threat, as noted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which states that approximately 10% of those infected with Legionnaires' disease do not survive. Having launched a routine testing protocol in mid-October, the DGS uncovered elevated levels of the bacteria at the State Center complex and the two aforementioned district court locations, with further sanitizing and testing planned, FOX Baltimore reported.
In light of the recent test results that surfaced from samples taken on November 25, the two district court buildings will be shuttered over the weekend, enabling time for the necessary flushing and sanitization of water systems, a step brought forward by DGS. Despite the recommended actions, concerns are rife among employees who are dissatisfied with the dissemination and sometimes contradictory nature of the information they've received regarding the water safety crisis. In particular, labor unions have strongly advocated for teleworking options until the threat has been completely eradicated, with "Do not drink the water and demand telework!" being the rallying cry distributed by the American Federation of Teachers Maryland, as mentioned in The Baltimore Brew.
According to The Baltimore Brew, Camden Roberts of AFSCME Council 3 expressed the sentiment of state employees at a recent rally, "You’re seeing all of this mixed messaging and all of this contradictory information from various state departments. That’s making people feel incredibly unsafe coming to work." The protest not only underscored safety concerns but also pointed to wider issues, with signs that decried "Safe staffing now!" and highlighted "$1 billion in deferred maintenance,"—the latter a nod to the charges against the administration led by Republican Governor Larry Hogan. Through all this, DGS maintains that employees are regularly informed about building maintenance, closures, and water use procedures via circulated memos.
