A trace amount of Legionella bacteria was found in the chiller at Weber Middle School. In a letter sent home to parents, Principal Christopher Shields stated that the district was informed on Saturday, Oct. 3, that, as a result of an inspection of Weber Middle School’s building chiller that provides air conditioning to the school, a trace amount of Legionella bacteria was discovered.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kathleen Mooney said, “As soon as we found out about the trace amount of Legionella bacteria present in the middle school chiller, we took immediate action to clean and sanitize the system. Chillers are tested for this bacteria on a scale. There are three tiers. The scale for Tier I is 1-10, the scale for Tier II is 11-1,000 and the scale for Tier III is above 1,000. Our chiller tested at 20, meaning that it contained a very low presence of the bacteria. We cleaned the chiller using methods beyond what is required for the level that was discovered. Since the cooling tower is a closed system, at no time was there any danger of exposure to students or staff. I want to reassure parents and staff that our buildings are safe environments for students to learn in.”
According to the letter sent to parents, while the amount of bacteria found in Weber’s chiller was low, the district took the measure of conducting a strong cleaning and disinfection of the chiller unit on Sunday, Oct. 4.
Shields also stated in the letter that the cleaning measures went above and beyond the procedures that are required for the low level of bacteria that was found. Similar instances of Legionella have occurred in other school districts on Long Island and in New York City.
According to Shields, the chiller at the middle school is a closed-loop system, meaning that no moisture escapes the unit and that the water used by students and staff at the school is not associated with the system so this situation should not pose any health threat to the students or staff of the building.
Students were able to return to school as usual on Monday morning. The system will continue to be monitored in the future, according to Shields.
A letter was also sent to parents with students in Schreiber High School. In that letter Principal Ira Pernick stated that the high school has an air cooling system, not a chiller as the middle school does. Therefore, a similar situation could not occur in the high school, as there is no potential for Legionella bacteria to grow in an air cooling system. According to Pernick, the air cooling system in the high school is regularly cleaned and inspected in order to ensure that air is flowing as efficiently as possible.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Legionella is a microscopic germ that can cause a type of pneumonia called legionellosis, more commonly known as Legionnaires’ disease.
