At least a dozen Hamilton residents have died from Legionnaires’ disease since 2018, public records show

Not all cases have been definitively linked to Trenton Water Works.

At least 12 residents of one suburban Mercer County community have died over the past half-decade from Legionnaires’ disease, a form of pneumonia caused by bacteria that can thrive in stagnant tap water.

The deaths in Hamilton Township, a bedroom community of 92,000 people, were enumerated Tuesday in data released by township health officials in response to a public information request by a local blogger.

The data, which was shared with The Jersey Vindicator, shows that the impact of waterborne illness in towns served by the troubled Trenton Water Works could be much higher than was widely understood by the public.

Past news releases issued by the state Department of Health cited only three deaths and a total of seven Legionella cases in the ongoing Mercer County outbreak that officials say surfaced in 2017 and 2018.

But the newly released data shows there were 51 confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Hamilton Township alone from 2018 through 2024, the last year for which data was available.

Hamilton is one of five Mercer County communities that get drinking water from the Delaware River via the Trenton water utility, a scandal-plagued agency that has been under state monitoring since 2022. Last year, top state environmental regulators found the utility in danger of imminent collapse and argued for a regional takeover of the Water Works.

The suburban water users, who make up the bulk of Trenton Water Works’ 225,000 customers, have joined a lawsuit against the utility filed in 2020 by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. They argue that the Legionella threat is a direct result of Trenton’s failure to meet federal and state treatment standards.

Expert reports commissioned by the state in 2024 itemized hundreds of millions of dollars in neglected capital work at the utility, in addition to management failures and outright corruption. Last year, a technician was criminally indicted for faking water quality tests.

On Wednesday, news surfaced that Trenton’s urban reservoir had dipped to dangerously low levels and could run out of water in a day or two. City officials attributed the reason for the dip in water levels to a series of major water lines and main breaks that have been discovered in recent weeks.

“When I say that drinking water has literally become a life and death issue in Hamilton Township, I mean it,” said Jeffrey Martin, Hamilton’s mayor. “The Trenton water utility is a direct threat to the health of the people who have to rely on it.”

The state Department of Health did not respond to phone calls and an emailed list of questions from The Jersey Vindicator on Wednesday. Charts published on the department’s website list 67 cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Mercer County from 2020 to 2024, or 5.5% of the 1,215 confirmed cases statewide.

The state data does not break down cases by town, however, and does not list the number of deaths attributed to the bacteria.

Legionella lives in fresh water and can infect people who inhale aerosolized droplets circulated by air conditioners, shower heads, or untreated pools and fountains. The disease, most likely to occur in warmer months, commonly attacks the elderly or people with respiratory illnesses.

Officials say the ongoing Mercer County outbreak is unusual in that it has been linked to a public water utility. Christopher Hellwig, the Hamilton Township health officer, said the systematic nature of the emergency demanded that local investigators bring in experts from both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

“This is the kind of thing there’s really no playbook for,” Hellwig said in an interview with The Vindicator. “We’ve got a water agency linked to an ongoing public health threat. We’re trying to trace it out and find answers as best we can. But it’s a completely novel situation.”

Hellwig described how investigators, at one point several years ago, took water samples from about 50 homes and found Legionella lurking in about 30. Most of those homes where Legionella was found were customers of Trenton Water Works, he said, while the remainder were served by a private provider.

Not all of the 12 confirmed Legionella deaths that have turned up in Hamilton been definitively linked to Trenton Water, Hellwig said. None of the names or addresses of victims have been released due to privacy concerns.

Hellwig noted that the number of cases has shrunk from about 12 a year to half a dozen per year since 2018. But he says the outbreak is likely to remain his town’s most pressing health issue for at least the near future.

“Clean water is public health 101; it’s one of the most essential human needs,” he said. “We’ve got to stay vigilant.”

Hellwig’s compilation of the troubling Legionella data came at the request of Marc Leckington, a longtime Trenton resident who has documented issues with the city’s wayward water utility on his Subtack, From the Mains of Trenton.

News of a dozen Legionella deaths in a single township convinces him that the Trenton water story is far from over. “You’ve got to ask yourself how many people are getting sick from the water they’re drinking and don’t even know it,” he said.

If you are a Mercer County resident and have been sick with Legionnaires’ disease in the last six years or have a loved one or relative who has, we would like to talk to you. Please email us.