The St. Louis school district has been forced to shut down its downtown headquarters after environmental testing found legionella bacteria in the water and cooling systems.
St. Louis Public Radio reports that it's unclear how long the building on North 11th street will remain closed.
Distrit spokesman Charles Poole says more testing will determine the extent of the contamination.
“We’re anticipating we’ll have results of the testing by mid to late next week, and by that time we’ll be able to determine what our go-forward posture will be,” Poole says.
Legionella can cause a type of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease. People can become infected by ingesting contaminated water or breathing in contaminated air droplets.
District officials learned about the bacteria Thursday evening when they received the test results.
On Friday morning, workers wore masks as they picked up work materials from the downtown facility.
Workers tested the building’s water systems after a pipe burst there and caused significant damage earlier this spring, Poole said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, legionella bacteria can become dangerous when it invades water systems, where it proliferates in warm, slow-moving water.
