Legionella bacteria detected in Hampton Beach hotel water system

HAMPTON, N.H. — The New Hampshire Department of Public Health has ordered a Hampton Beach hotel to remediate Legionella bacteria found within its water supply.

Officials began investigating after more than a dozen cases of Legionnaires' disease were reported near Hampton Beach.

Initial tests conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detected the presence of the Legionella bacteria from multiple sources within the Sands Resort water supply, including the hot tub.

"Early test results from the CDC indicate the presence of the Legionella bacteria in several environmental samples taken from the facility’s water system. I have issued this order to ensure the health of guests and visitors of the establishment, as well as the health of Hampton residents and visitors. The Sands Resort will immediately notify current and future guests of the Legionella outbreak and take steps to remediate the premise plumbing system in order to mitigate the risk to the public's health," said commissioner Meyers.

In a statement on Monday, The Sands Resort Management Co., the company said the polymerase chain reaction test, which looks for DNA specific to the Legionella bacteria, came back positive in three units.

However, the statement said that the test cannot determine if the bacteria is dead or active, and said, "It very well could de dead and inactive."

Boston 25 News spoke with the co-owner of the Sands Resort last week, who said the hotel's hot tub is drained and cleaned several times each week.

"They asked as a courtesy if we could shut down our hot tub which is a very small hot tub which has been here for 25 years and we've never had a problem whatsoever," said Tom Saab. "It's immaculate. It has all brand new filters, new pump."

In their statement, the company said the testing, in some cases, showed the hot water temperature was between 106 and 112 degrees, when it's supposed to always be above 110 degrees to kill Legionella bacteria.

However, the company said their staff felt the CDC didn't let the water run long enough to get a proper temperature reading, and their own tests done by staff members came back with temperatures between 125-130 degrees.

Additional test results could be released next week.

You can read the full statement from The Sands Resort Management Co. below:

Statement from The Sands Resort Management Co.

1.    Brief history of the Sands Contel

-An older Sands Motel was located here, on this site, for many years. Demolished approximately around 1986, the new Sands Contel, a condominium complex, was built in 1988. It was developed by someone, who we believe, their last name was possibly Berlandi. They were supposedly close friends of the NH Attorney General soon to became governor, Steven Merrill.

The developers began selling these 3 room 1-bedroom units for close to $90,000 each. Over 20 units sold. Then the real estate market collapsed, and no further units could be sold. Eventually, Fleet Bank took it into receivership, and the management of the property became very difficult. No one seemed interested in buying the approximately 60 units that had not sold, as well as taking on the management problem that existed at the time. Fleet bank then had threatened to board up and close down a building which was less than 3 years old. All current owners would have lost all of their value. Three partners stepped up in June 1991, and purchased the remaining units, saving the value for the owners while forming The Sands Management Co., and developing a new approach to the management of the property.
 
2.    A few years later, all necessary permits from the town of Hampton were obtained to build a new exercise room, hot tub spa, and red wood sauna. All of which have now been operating superbly for approximately 23 years with no problems whatsoever.

-    For the record, our hot tub is drained and completely cleaned 2-3 times every week, and refilled with the fresh water. It is not the type of hot tub or pool where the same water sits in all summer long. This spring, an entirely new filter system and pump system were installed by Aqua Paradise of North Hampton, NH.

3.    The Sands is open year-round. The management and staff do a superb job overseeing the entire operation at the Sands. Some of our managers live on the property. In fact, our housekeeping manager is in her late 60s, and is a smoker. Our maintenance manager, who drains and cleans the hot tub 2-3 times per week, is 71 years old, and is a heavy smoker. They have been with us for years, and neither have had any symptoms of this illness. The staff has cooperated 100% with the authorities during this difficult time.

-We remind you all that The Sands Resort at Hampton Beach is a prime vacation destination for people throughout New England, New York, and Canada, in part, due to our superb staff as well as our own accommodations.

4.    The CDC tested water, on August 29th, in 4 units, and there were preliminary findings from a test called Polymerase Chain Reaction. The PCR test, which looks for DNA specific to legionella bacteria, showed positive in 3 units. However, the test cannot determine if the bacteria is dead or active. It very well could be dead and inactive

-    In addition, the testing in some cases showed that the hot water temperature level in some locations was between 106ºF- 112ºF, and it is always supposed to be above 110ºF to kill legionella bacteria. Our staff witnessed the hot water testing done by the CDC. In our opinion the CDC did not let the water run long enough to get a proper reading. On Sunday night, September 2nd, our plumber and other staff members ran the hot water in various units for 3-4 minutes. The water temperature reached between 125ºF - 130ºF.  We are just saying in any business, hotel or even your own home you must run the hot water long enough to get a true and proper reading.

-    Tests also showed signs that this legionella bacteria were present in the outdoor cold-water shower and another cold water spicket. Everyone seems slightly confused because legionella bacteria are not supposed to survive cold water therefore we thought the results of their tests could possibly be wrong. However, we have been informed the legionella bacteria can form in cold water but not survive long. Many businesses, hotels, hospitals, nursing homes, etc. could have small amounts of legionella bacteria in their systems from time to time because municipal water systems have a low amount of chlorine that is in the municipal water lines. Low amounts of chlorine do not kill legionella bacteria. In addition, the CDC did not test the water in the new water meter that was installed by Aquarian water company in March of 2018. The company we have contracted with Resource EHS America, Inc. has stated that the CDC should have absolutely tested a sample from the water meter which the municipal water comes directly into. The Sands has only one water meter in the entire building with only one water line coming in from the town.

5.    We would remind everyone that The Sands Resort has cooperated fully with local, state, and federal authorities. We have complied with all of their requests. Last Wednesday August 29th we welcomed approximately 12 individuals from CDC, NH Department of Health, and local officials to examine our resort, individual units, and common area locations. They were grateful and amazed at how welcoming we were and the ease as to which they were able to accomplish the tasks before them.

6.    Because of the immediate cooperation by our staff the CDC was able to get this preliminary testing done sooner than expected, providing us with the initial results. This has allowed us to move exponentially to contract with Resource EHS America, Inc., the United States division of REA, an environmental and occupational health and safety consulting firm with offices in the U.S., Canada and Barbados. They have a team of 17 Certified Industrial Hygienists and professional engineers. They have completed over 16, 000 assignments. The company's representatives will be arriving here at the Sands by Wednesday, and will begin to flush out our water system, and remove any signs of legionella bacteria as well as algae, parasites of other organisms, other bacteria as well as the biofilm that bacteria attaches itself to that may still exist. The goal is to be completed by Friday Morning, September 7th, in time for the Annual Hampton Beach Seafood Festival.

-    Please note that there are at least 5 or 6 properties where water testing by CDC was done after the Sands. Those results have not come back yet. The state health department representatives acknowledge that this has been a very rare, unique, and difficult case to figure out throughout Hampton Beach.

7.     We would also like everyone to know that we have estimated that between 3000 – 4000 men,       women, teenagers, and children have been here at the Sands during the month of August. Although, to date, 9 individuals who contracted Legionnaries Disease have visited the Sands, it does not prove in any way that they got the illness due to their stay at the Sands. In addition, the first cases from back in June were not individuals who stayed at or visited the Sands.

We will continue to cooperate with all authorities as we strive to protect and take care of all our guests, visitors, and staff.

Cox Media Group