Cross-Contamination Leaves LAX Terminal Without Water
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Passengers and employees at Los Angeles International Airport were urged not to drink or use water from any airport facilities in one of the terminals Wednesday after a reported contamination.
KNX 1070's Charles Feldman reports LAX officials were notified about the issue earlier this morning.
Mishap blamed for water outage at LAX
LAX Airport Operations was notified by a contractor working on a pump room on the lower level of Terminal 6 that a cross-contamination incident occurred in the potable water line with recycled chilled air-conditioning water sometime between 7 and 8:30 a.m.
After airlines and concessionaires were immediately notified, and LAX staff were immediately dispatched to all restrooms, where people using the bathrooms were told to use hand sanitizing gel to clean their hands.
Staff members also covered water fountains in the terminal and notified the public to not drink the water.
The restrooms remained open as of early Wednesday afternoon and airport staff is distributing hand wipes and hand sanitizers to restroom users.
All food-and-beverage concessions in Terminal 6 discontinued using the water and were temporarily closed under public safety requirements.
"The entire terminal's water lines need to be tested before passengers and food and beverage concessions are allowed to use it again," said airport spokesperson Nancy Castles.
Passengers have been directed to use food-and-beverage concessions in adjacent Terminals 5 and 7, which are connected by corridors beyond TSA passenger security screening.
There were no reported flight delays, officials said. All airlines have portable, potable water for departing flights.
The water system in Terminal 6 is being flushed and the water will be tested before passengers and food-and-beverage concessions are allowed to resume use.
United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air and Frontier Airlines are all located in Terminal 6, according to officials.
