GSA manages the Dirksen courthouse and other federal facilities.
As the I-Team previously reported, legionella was found at water fixtures throughout the Dirksen. The public was instructed not to drink water out of some fountains.
Pictures of signs provided by a court source state: "Certain fixtures in this facility have tested outside of the corresponding threshold for copper, lead, and Legionella."
In a letter Thursday following the I-Team's report, Durbin wrote to the GSA Administrator in part, "We are also deeply concerned by the now public reports that a federal judge...contracted Legionnaires' disease and believes the illness was linked to the water system at the Dirksen Courthouse... Rather than taking decisive and timely action to eliminate the risk, the agency relied on incremental corrective measures while delaying implementation of more comprehensive protections...It is unacceptable that these stronger safeguards were not pursued until after a serious illness brought renewed attention to the problem."
Durbin is urging the GSA to accelerate the installation of a secondary water treatment system at the Dirksen while chastising the GSA response to the initial I-Team story.
"GSA's denigration of the judiciary and degradation of court facilities is unacceptable," Durbin wrote.
GSA told the I-Team in response to a story last week in part, "At a time when judicial case backlogs remain significant, the courts should remain focused on their core mission rather than engage in unsupported medical speculation."