Bacteria known to cause sometimes-deadly respiratory infections have been found in a midtown Sacramento state office complex, as more than 200,000 state workers started returning to their offices at least twice a week.
Two of them — the California Department of Public Health and the Department of Health Care Services — confirmed the test results to CalMatters today. The California Department of Education, also headquartered in one of the buildings, did not immediately return an inquiry for comment.
“State agencies need to ensure a thorough disinfection process to create a clean, safe working environment, preventing anyone from getting sick or bringing the disease home,” said Irene Green, vice president of bargaining at the union.
“We need answers: Has the entry point been determined? What measures are being taken to guarantee the building will be free of bacteria? This recurring issue raises serious concerns about the adequacy of the current investigation,” Green told CalMatters.
Affected employees were notified on Friday, after their departments received the latest test results. On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s return to work order took effect.
Some tests were of water samples collected in February and March, meaning the bacteria were in the buildings’ water system at least three months earlier, according to test results shared with CalMatters.
No one has reported getting sick from the bacteria found at the complex, according to the Department of General Services, which is in charge of managing most state offices and testing and curbing the infections.
In a statement to CalMatters, the department said it is “conducting daily flushing” at the complex to “prevent stagnation of water, move disinfectant throughout the building water system and maintain appropriate temperatures to prevent growth of legionella Bacteria.”
“These water management measures will help reduce the risk of Legionella growing and spreading and will help safeguard the health and well-being of our employees,” according to an email the public health department sent to its employees Friday.
But “getting rid of Legionella completely from any building water system is unlikely to occur,” the email warned.
There is no requirement for legionella testing at state office buildings. But the general services department has a management plan to control the spread of the bacteria, and buildings with a “water management plan” are tested at least annually, according to the statement.
The department said legionella have been discovered in 37 state buildings since it began testing for the bacteria in June 2022. One building was sold and two others are currently empty, the department said.
The bacteria were found in the headquarters of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System in 2019, partly because the low water usage during the COVID-19 pandemic helped the bacteria grow, experts said.
The bacteria naturally exist in lakes and streams, but can endanger health when they spread in building water systems. There are no known safe levels of legionella, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People can get sick by swallowing water or breathing in droplets containing the bacteria, but most healthy people are not infected when exposed.
While rare, Legionnaires’ disease is especially dangerous to immunocompromised people, seniors and others with chronic health conditions, according to federal health officials. One in ten people who contract the disease dies, and the risk more than doubles if the person contracts it in a healthcare facility. Those infected with legionella could also contract a less serious disease called Pontiac fever, which could cause fever and muscle aches.
Between 2014 and 2023, the number of reported legionella infections in California fluctuated, averaging 490 cases per year, according to data from the state health department.
In 2019, an inmate in a state prison in Stockton died after being infected by the bacteria, which were found throughout the facility, the Sacramento Bee reported. In 2022, an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in downtown Napa killed one and hospitalized 16 others.
And last year, two people contracted Legionnaires’ disease after visiting the Mission Valley State Office Building in San Diego, which tested positive for the bacteria, according to a February letter from the Department of General Services. The department closed the building for two weeks in April 2023 after the first case and tried to prevent the spread with steps including “daily flushing and usage of filters on sink faucets, showerheads, and drinking fountains,” the letter said. The public health department also promised to investigate the water system, offer “reasonable accommodations” to those at risk of infection and post signage and posters regarding the cases.
Legislative attempts to require state agencies to implement plans to treat water contaminations failed in recent years. In 2022, Newsom vetoed a bill that would have required state agencies to submit water quality reports and adopted policies to curb the spread of legionella.
The bill would have mandated programs to treat legionella in any state-owned buildings of more than 10 stories with a cooling tower system, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts’ Office.
“It is crucial that California tests for this type of exposure among our school-age children and state workers, and when possible, replace the systems that are causing this contamination,” state Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, said in a statement at the time.
In his veto message, Newsom cited concerns for budget shortfalls. A fiscal analysis by the Assembly Appropriations Committee put the price tag at between tens of millions and hundreds of millions of dollars.
“We must prioritize existing obligations and priorities, and this bill could force state agencies and public schools to choose between its implementation and other critical needs,” the governor said.
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