09 August 2002
A leisure centre run by the council has been identified as the suspected source of the outbreak, which killed pensioner Richard Macaulay, although the results of tests are not yet known.
It is believed that legionella bacteria were pumped into a public thoroughfare by an air conditioning unit installed in the Forum 28 centre. The council's technical manager Kevin Borthwick, who was responsible for maintaining the unit, has been suspended on full pay while the joint inquiry by Cumbria Police and the Health and Safety Executive is completed.
A police spokesman told Public Finance that the results were unlikely to be known 'for some time', but said that because someone had died it was being treated as a possible case of manslaughter.
'At this stage it is far too early to rule anything in or out. At the moment they are interviewing people who have legionnaires' disease and analysing samples,' he added.
If the council were found to be negligent and charged with corporate manslaughter, it would face unlimited fines, while the individuals would face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The council's chief executive, Tom Campbell, said: 'If it were established that in any way an employee for whom I was responsible was negligent I would carry that burden to my grave.'
A spokesman for Barrow was tight-lipped about the investigation, but confirmed that the authority would conduct an internal inquiry once the external one was completed. 'Our only option is to wait for the conclusions of the police and health and safety officials before we begin work ourselves,' he added.
As PF went to press there were 96 confirmed cases of legionnaires' disease and a further 49 suspected. A spokeswoman for Morecambe Bay NHS trust, which has treated the victims of the outbreak, said medics were cautiously optimistic that the number of cases had now peaked.
'People in the town are being very responsible and local GPs have been very supportive,' she added.
PFaug2002
