General Motors confirmed that its Cole Engineering Center at the GM Technical Center in Warren tested positive for the presence of the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease.
GM spokeswoman Tara Kuhnen said on Sept. 24 that the automaker will keep the building closed for at least this week as it makes a plan to clear the building of the bacteria so that employees can safely return to their offices.
As was first reported by the Detroit Free Press, GM initially closed the building, where many of GM’s engineers and designers work on advanced vehicles design, engineering and research, on Sept. 10 after two employees came down with Legionnaires’ disease. Since that time those employees have recovered. The nearly 10,000 to 11,000 people assigned to the Cole building have been working remote, Kuhnen said.
Kuhnen said GM notified its workforce of the news on Sept. 24. In a statement she provided, GM said, “Our third-party lab has confirmed the presence of Legionella bacteria in select samples from the Cole Engineering building. The building will remain closed through the remainder of the week as we work with our third-party experts and local health authorities to review the test data received from the lab. We will develop and implement a detailed remediation plan for all affected systems before reopening.”
Kuhnen said GM is prioritizing its employee safety and that will determine when the building reopens. In the meantime, GM will be as transparent as it can with its workforce as it learns more details of the situation, she said.
The last time GM closed down its Cole Engineering Center was in 2020 after an employee tested positive for coronavirus.
Caused by bacteria, Legionnaires’ disease is a type of pneumonia. Legionella, the bacterium that causes the illness, thrives in water and is commonly found in places such as plumbing systems, cooling towers, and hot tubs.
Last month, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease was in the water system of Allegria Village, a senior-living community in Dearborn, where investigators from the Wayne County Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services investigated the cause of death for two residents who had Legionnaires’ disease in June and July.
According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, its Disease Surveillance System data showed that, as of the week ending Sept. 13, the most current week available, there have been 31 cases of Legionnaires’ disease year to date in Macomb County, where the Cole Building is located.
GM is not the first organization to be exposed to the disease. In 2019, Wayne State University shut down the the cooling tower of its historic Old Main building because preliminary tests suggest it was contaminated with Legionella bacteria.
That same year, Ford Motor Co. found trace amounts of the Legionella bacteria in the water at the Dearborn Diversified Manufacturing Plant, which is located among Ford’s Rouge factories in Dearborn, published reports said. The total count of Legionella bacteria was not enough to warrant shutting down the factory.
Free Press staff writer Kristen Shamus contributed to this article.
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GM confirms bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease is in 1 of its buildings
Reporting by Jamie L. LaReau, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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