A bacteria that can cause deadly infections has become an ongoing problem requiring permanent staffing at California’s newest state prison, according to state budget documents.

California Health Care Facility, a Stockton prison that houses some of the state’s sickest inmates, wants to hire for 15 permanent positions and spend about $4.4 million per year to fight the bacteria, known as legionella, according to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation funding request that is part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal.

The prison declared an emergency in April after two inmates with pneumonia tested positive for legionella. One of the inmates, John Cook, died. The bacteria can make people sick when it is inhaled in water droplets.

The prison brought in bottled water and shower trailers and hired a consultant who searched for the source of the bacteria.

The prison gets its water from Stockton’s municipal supply, which isn’t infected. The persistent problem is somewhere in the prison’s distribution system, according to the budget document.

“Legionella will be an ongoing risk,” states the document, known as a budget change proposal.

When asked if the state is still attempting to eradicate the bacteria from the system entirely, corrections department spokeswoman Terry Thornton provided the following response:

“To protect staff and incarcerated people at California Health Care Facility, efforts to mitigate legionella bacteria at the institution will be ongoing. CDCR will continue performing existing water system maintenance protocols such as building water fixture flushing and regular replacement of in-line filters. Additionally, CDCR is implementing new water system protocols that include chlorination on site.”

Opened in 2013, the Stockton prison is the state’s newest. Over the last year, it dedicated more than 20,000 hours of overtime to addressing the legionella, according to the document. Water problems at California’s state prisons are not uncommon, a McClatchy investigation found.

The budget request asks for $9.7 million for the present fiscal year and $4.4 million per year in the future.

Moving forward, the prison plans to increase and improve chlorination in its water supply to kill the bacteria and to regularly replace filters on showerheads that trap the bacteria. About 750 filters need to be replaced every six weeks, at an annual cost of about $1.4 million, according to the budget document.

The plan calls for hiring seven plumbers, four supervisors and a staff services analyst at the prison, plus three people who would work at California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation headquarters to guide oversight at Stockton and to minimize risk of legionella outbreaks at other state prisons.

This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 12:40 PM.