Cooling Tower Violations and The True Cost of Legionella Concerns

Cooling tower fines are steep, but they pale in comparison to the cost paid by those found responsible for Legionnaire’s clusters or outbreaks

New York City (NYC) has the most comprehensive cooling tower regulations in the nation. The rules are strictly enforced and violators are held accountable. After NYC’s worst outbreak of Legionnaire’s Disease in 2015, Local Law 77 (LL77) was put into place to help protect the public – particularly the most vulnerable populations like the elderly and those in poor health.

Despite these strict regulations and their importance to public health, cooling towers in the NYC area are still being found contaminated with legionella bacteria on a regular basis. This is a major concern for building owners around the city who already spend a fortune complying with regulations, because there are even greater costs that come with contaminated cooling towers.

The True Cost of Legionella Growth

NYC Cooling Tower Regulations come with a laundry list of potential fines for cooling towers . Cooling tower fines not only stay on your building’s city record, but they are financial hardships; the law even details that obtaining the same violation twice may result in double the fine. Please note: This specific doubling down on the violation fine is an act that our team has yet to observe in any building. We can only imagine that once this specific part of the law is enforced, building owners will turn more to compliance experts to help them avoid cooling tower violations and their associated fines. 

But the true cost of cooling tower violations and legionella growth is far greater. If your cooling tower obtains violations then all of these violations go into city record…forever. We can only assume that potential buyers of buildings would not want to purchase a building that has a long history of cooling tower violations.  It is also a high probability that if your cooling tower is identified as a potential source, you will have to pay by having your business’s name dragged around the news cycle for weeks.  This can be especially harmful for health clubs, gyms, apartment buildings and retailers. Businesses are expected to provide healthy and safe experiences for customers, and the blow to their brand may never recover.

To learn more on how we can help you and your team to avoid cooling tower violations, continue reading about our cooling tower compliance services.