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On Monday, officials announced that City Hall, the Abel Wolman Municipal Building, both on Holiday Street, and the Benton Building on East Fayette Street, have officially been reopened for full service following the discovery of elevated levels of Legionella bacteria.
Mitigation efforts, including flushing and chlorination treatments, were successfully completed in all three buildings over the weekend, officials said.
"The City has taken these steps, including the precautionary testing that discovered the elevated levels and the robust mitigation efforts, out of an abundance of caution," they continued.
"Friday's closure was caused by the intrusive nature of the mitigation efforts, not due to any public health or safety concern."
According to city officials, they plan to continue precautionary testing "as needed."
"The discovery of elevated legionella bacteria in these municipal buildings follows similar discoveries in the City's courthouses and in state government facilities at State Center."
Since then, mitigation efforts have been completed in those buildings and they have since reopened.
The Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) has not received any reports of confirmed cases of Legionnaires' disease associated with the discovered presence of elevated levels of legionella bacteria in some government buildings.
According to the CDC, “after Legionella grows and multiplies in a building water system, water containing Legionella then has to spread in droplets small enough for people to breathe in. People can get Legionnaires’ disease or Pontiac fever when they breathe in small droplets of water in the air that contains the bacteria.
“Less commonly, people can get sick by aspiration of drinking water containing Legionella. This happens when water accidentally goes into the lungs while drinking. People at increased risk of aspiration include those with swallowing difficulties.”
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