GSA delayed alerting federal office building tenants in Detroit of contaminated drinking water

The federal government knew one of its office buildings in Detroit had contaminated water but waited months to alert tenants, exposing them to unsafe levels of lead, copper and even Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease.

The General Services Administration’s inspector general said the delay left tenants and visitors to the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building “at risk” and unable to make decisions about their health and safety.

The GSA, which acts as landlord for federal agencies, first tested and found Legionella in the building’s cooling towers last August. But it didn’t notify tenants until Nov. 1.

The GSA then had the building’s faucets and drinking fountains tested a week later and got those results back on Nov. 21 showing contamination. But it waited until Nov. 29 to inform the occupants.

Out of 121 water outlets tested, 20 tested positive for Legionella, two had elevated levels of lead, and eight had unsafe levels of copper.

The inspector general blamed “deficiencies” in the Public Buildings Service’s policies, saying PBS didn’t show “a sense of urgency.”

Public Buildings Commissioner Elliot Doomes admitted the flaws in the GSA’s official response to the audit.

“GSA acknowledges that a more timely notification to building occupants would have been appropriate as it determined what corrective action was required to reduce risk,” the official said.

The GSA said its guidance has been updated to require notification to building occupants within one business day of test results.

The report is the latest to fault the feds for exposing people to unsafe water.

Last week, the GSA inspector general said the agency was months or even years behind in testing water in child care centers at federal buildings, and when it finally did test it found dangerous levels of contaminants.

Two cases of Legionnaires' disease have been linked to federal government buildings, including one at the Rosa Parks Building in Detroit.

Indeed, it was that Legionella outbreak in June 2023 that prompted the GSA to test the water towers at the McNamara Building in the first place, the inspector general said.

The Rosa Parks Building was shut down after its outbreak. It reopened on Nov. 28.

The inspector general has repeatedly cited the pandemic shutdown as part of the problem, saying water supplies were left stagnant in buildings for months or even years, creating conditions for unsafe levels of contaminants or the growth of Legionella.

Mr. Doomes said his agency is still grappling with it.

“The implications of the unprecedented scale and duration of stagnation and low water usage are an emerging issue,” he said.

He said the experience at the McNamara Building has helped the GSA develop new national policies and better training.

“GSA is undertaking an extensive, national testing program at federally owned facilities and in leased space to proactively identify water quality concerns and take corrective action,” Mr. Doomes said.

The 27-story McNamara Building was built in 1976. It houses offices of the Army Corps of Engineers, FBI and Social Security Administration.

The inspector general said tenants took their own steps to plug the gaps left by the GSA’s delays. One office, for example, posted a do-not-drink alert.

The inspector general said that underscored how much the GSA bungled.

“The actions taken by GSA’s tenant agencies demonstrate a lack of confidence in GSA’s ability to manage the building and provide a healthy and safe work environment,” the audit said. “While the tenants’ actions are understandable, they could have led to conflicting guidance that could cause confusion and undermine GSA’s ability to effectively manage the situation.”