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Council presses DOHMH on testing compliance, missing fines data and enforcement
Summary
Council leaders said the city's cooling-tower testing law was not fully complied with (they cited 25% noncompliance), that fines expected to be posted in June were not visible on the website, and they demanded clarity on assessments and enforcement.
Council leaders told the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene they lacked basic compliance information and urged the agency to publish testing results and fines promptly. Speaker Menon said more than 25% of cooling towers were not in compliance with the testing law and that fines were supposed to appear on the website in June but had not.
"We are still waiting to see if the health department issued any fines. That information was supposed to be up on the website in June. It's still not up," Speaker Menon said. Council Member Lynn Schulman and others pressed for confirmation that fines were assessed and noted that penalties may need review if they proved insufficient.
Council members also asked how the administration tracks and follows up with owners that do not submit test results, and whether commissioner's orders can be used more broadly to require remediation. No DOHMH representative spoke at the briefing to respond to those specific questions.
