Water in park rides flows on untested

It falls outside regulatory scope of health department

The water in Kennywood Park’s Raging Rapids, a simulated whitewater rafting ride where a Squirrel Hill man claims a parasite damaged one of his eyes this summer, was never tested for contaminants or pathogens by state or county agencies.

Neither the state Department of Agriculture, which inspects amusement park rides including those at Kennywood, nor the Allegheny County Health Department, which tests water quality at more than 600 bathing places, pools, spas, hot tubs and water slides, including the Sandcastle water park, monitors the water quality at Kennywood’s water rides.

In fact, none of the water-related rides in any of the more than a dozen amusement parks across the state are monitored, tested or regulated for water quality by state or local government agencies.

Robert Trostle of Squirrel Hill filed a lawsuit in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday against Kennywood Entertainment claiming negligence after water containing the parasitic fungi micro sporidia splashed into his eye while he was on the ride.

“I would like some answers. No one is saying voluntarily who should be regulating water quality at the park,” said Mr. Trostle’s attorney, Alan Perer. “No one is willing to accept responsibility for my client’s injury.”

William Nichols, a Department of Agriculture spokesman, issued a statement saying it’s the responsibility of the “ride/attraction operator (first and foremost)” and the appropriate state or county health department to ensure water quality on amusement park rides.

“Our ride safety staff were notified of the situation, reviewed the details and determined that it is not our jurisdiction,” Mr. Nichols said in an email.

The state Department of Environmental Protection also said it does not regulate or test

amusement park ride water. And although the state Department of Health regulates pools and water park water quality in other counties, it doesn’t test water quality in water-related amusement park rides.

Nick Paradise, a Kennywood spokesman, didn’t directly respond to questions about whether Kennywood tests the water in its water rides, including the Raging Rapids, Pittsburgh Plunge, and, until it was retired at the end of this summer, the Log Jammer.

He said it is Kennywood’s policy not to comment on active litigation, but emphasized in a statement that “the safety of our guests and team members is our top priority in everything that we do here at Kennywood.”

“That attention extends to care and maintenance of rides and water used in rides. We follow all regulations required by the Pennsylvania State Department of Agriculture, and often go above and beyond what is required by state law.”

Ryan Scarpino, a county health department spokesman, acknowledged that Mr. Trostlereported his eye injury to the department in July and attributedit to the water in the RagingRapids ride.

Karen Hacker, the health department director, said the department notified the state Department of Health, thestate Department of Agriculture, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in July and opened an investigation, including interviewingMr. Trostle.

“We contacted the CDC and it did not suggest that we test the water at the Raging Rapids. The microsporidia is so small that even if it’s there, we might not find it,” Dr. Hacker said. “And even if we did find it, it wouldn’t prove that he came in contact with it there, because he had been swimming in other water during that time.”

But Mr. Perer said that his client’s eye problem began two days after he was at Kennywood, and that two days also is the incubation period for the microsporidia parasite.

The broader question for public health is whether some agency should regularly test water at amusement park rides and ensure it’s free of pathogens that could cause illness.

According to the county health department web page, the county inspects and licenses hundreds of pools, spas, hot tubs and water slides each year to assure water quality, sanitation, lifeguard coverage and performance of required chemical and bacteriological testing.

But amusement park water rides fall outside the department’s regulatory scope, Dr. Hacker said.

“It’s not drinking water and it’s not swimming water, so it falls into an in-between category, and no one is checking the water on those rides,” Dr. Hacker said following a conference call with the state departments of health and agriculture Friday.

“That water can be a potential pathway for illness, but the question is, is it?” she said. “And at this point, without evidence it’s contributing to disease and illness, the question is, why would we regulate it?”

The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, an industry group that promotes amusement park safety, notes in a document titled “2016 Model Aquatic Health Code” that there has been a “dramatic increase in waterborne disease outbreaks” associated with public aquatic facilities like swimming pools and water parks.”

But it doesn’t break out statistics for, or directly address, the risk from the amusement park rides, and a spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

The document identified cryptosporidium, which causes diarrheal disease, as the leading cause of disease outbreaks at aquatic venues.

In 2010, waterborne disease outbreaks — incidences affecting more than three individuals — became nationally reportable. A 2015 CDC report compiled 2011 and 2012 data from 32 states and Puerto Rico that showed 90 recreational water-associated outbreaks resulting in at least 1,788 cases of illness, 95 hospitalizations, and one death. Cryptosporidium caused more than half of the outbreaks and the fatality was due to legionellosis.

The CDC report noted that recreational water-associated illness outbreaks had increased over the past two decades, and that the outbreak counts “are likely an underestimate of actual incidence.” But again, the report doesn’t isolate illnesses due to amusementpark water rides.

The microsporidia fungi that attacked Mr. Trostle’s cornea is commonly found in nature and also in tap water, hot tubs and heating and cooling pipes, according to the CDC.

Peter Veldkamp,a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center infectious disease physician and director of the hospital’s travel health clinic, said keeping bacteria, parasites, viruses and other pathogens out of amusement park water rides is a nearly impossible task, both because of their small size and pervasiveness in the outdoor environment.

“Microsporidia is not only a pathogen for humans. It’s carried by birds and deposited in droppings. It’s very hard to to keep out of water or filter out when it’s in water, and is very resistant to chlorination,” Dr. Veldkamp said. “That said, it’s very rare that humans are sickened by it. But you don’t want to have skin abrasions or eye abrasions when you come into contact with the water.”

He said there are fewer than 100 cases involving the microsporidia in recorded literature, most involving people who were already immuno-compromised.

The growing number of disease outbreaks related to aquatic recreation likely is due to more water-based amusement park and water parkrides, better diagnosis of the illnesses and climate change, which is causing higher water temperatures thatprovide better living conditionsfor many pathogens.

Still, Dr. Veldkamp said the risk of contracting an illness on water rides is low.

“I would definitely still go to a water park or water ride. They’re fun,” he said. “I don’t consider parks with water features a high-risk situation, not for healthy people.”