(The Detroit News & Free Press posted the following article on its website on April 17.)
SAGINAW, Mich. — CSX Transportation Inc. said it is nearly finished cleansing water pipes at its Saginaw rail yard of the bacteria that causes Legionnaire’s disease. One of the yard’s two water systems has passed cleanliness tests, and the second will be tested this week, company spokesman David Hall said. Results might not be available for two weeks, he said.
CSX shut down its water lines and brought in cleanup crews to flush them out last week after doctors detected high levels of Legionella bacteria in a 56-year-old employee having an unrelated medical procedure.
The employee never had a full-blown case of Legionnaire’s disease, a pneumonia-like illness that is spread through direct contact with bacteria-infested water or mists, said John Winden, communicable disease nurse for the Saginaw County Department of Public Health. The employee has been released from St. Mary’s Hospital.