NEW YORK — The city added three new violations — with fines as high as $10,000 — to its building code in response to the deadly outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the South Bronx over the summer.
Failing to register a cooling tower, failing to notify the city of the removal or discontinued use of a cooling tower, and failing to file an annual certificate affirming that a building's cooling towers have been inspected, tested, cleaned, disinfected and/or maintained are now all considered Class 2 violations by the Department of Buildings.
Building owners will receive a maximum fine of $2,000 for their first violation and a maximum fine of $5,000 for a second or subsequent violation. If the violation results in a death or serious injury, the owner will be fined a maximum of $10,000.
The building code's new violations are part of legislation that the city passed in response to its worst-ever outbreak of Legionnaires' disease, which killed 12 people and sickened more than 120 over the summer.
The outbreak was eventually traced back to a cooling tower in the Opera House Hotel. City health officials also identified a cooling tower in the Bronx Psychiatric Center as the likely source of a cluster of Legionnaires' disease cases in the East Bronx from the fall.
