Organigram didn't regularly clean cooling towers linked to 2019 legionnaires' outbreak

A newly released report by New Brunswick Public Health says Organigram had no regular cleaning of cooling towers that were the source of a 2019 legionnaires' disease outbreak in Moncton.

The 60-page document, which doesn't name the cannabis grower, examined the outbreak that infected 15 people with the severe form of pneumonia. It says the company's facility had two new cooling towers in 2019 that didn't have a chemical treatment system activated.

"Additionally, upon further review of their operations and maintenance, many elements that would be considered best practice were not identified," says the report released to CBC this month following a right to information request.

"Regular cleaning and disinfection were not scheduled, and there was no documented water safety or maintenance plan."

It also said testing was using a method "not necessarily well correlated" to detecting legionella bacteria. 

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