Officials dismiss Fort Legionella reports

Wednesday 10 October 2018

Concerns over the discovery of Legionella bacteria in water supplies at Fort Regent have been dismissed by States officials as just "scaremongering", after it emerged this week that the public were not going to be informed about the finding.

Tests carried out after a number of gym showers were closed while asbestos was removed, found that the water contained the harmful bacteria - although officials argue that the specific strain found is "a low risk" to health.

The news emerged during yesterday morning’s States Assembly sitting, when Infrastructure Minister Kevin Lewis also revealed that there had been no plans to tell the public, or even the Department's own Assistant Minister. He argued that "so many people were involved that it is more or less in the public domain… It is not a secret.”

Despite branding the finding “no secret”, politicians heard that there were no plans to inform the public because the area wasn’t in use at the time – despite a public announcement being made when the bacteria was found in a closed section of the hospital in 2012. 

Express has since learned that even frequent Fort Regent users weren’t told in advance.

I was hoping that #JerseyCI’s culture of #secrecy as highlighted by Care Inquiry was a thing of the past . https://t.co/b8GVJ1Ikw1#FortRegent is a well loved & well used facility by islanders: they should have been kept informed @bailiwickxpress @TheVoiceJersey #IJCI #Jerseyway

— Montfort Tadier (@DeputyTadier) October 9, 2018

Jersey Sport, the key representative group for the island’s sports teams, many of which frequently use the centre, found out after Deputy Lewis’ States Assembly comments were reported in the media. However, they said that they wouldn't expect to have been told.

Meanwhile, it appears that business tenants and frequent users of the Fort were only officially informed in an email yesterday – after the news had broken.

In an e-mail passed to Express, senior Fort officials criticised media reports: 

“Dear Tenants and Regular Users, You may get enquiries from your customers regarding the news today. Some News articles appear to be scaremongering and you may also get calls from the press asking for you to comment,” the email warned, before informing the tenants of the legionella finding.

A post on the Fort's Facebook page on Monday afternoon shared an article informing islanders that “bacteria” may have built up because the water supplies hadn't been used for a while, so the systems - including gym water fountains - had to be cleaned.

Pictured: The notice on the Fort's web page, informing people that the water systems needed to be cleaned to eliminate any build up of bacteria. 

“As the water fountains may be connected to the water systems that require cleaning, water dispensers have now been provided for use whilst the fountains are out of action. We need to discontinue use of the fountains until this has been fully investigated," it read.