COLUMBIANA CO. Plan calls for use of inmates

Having inmates work in a publicly owned plant would help make them productive, an official said.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- A proposed solid waste and recycling plan calls for the construction of a $1.2 million plant to process recyclables and for staffing it with inmate labor.
The plant would enable the Carroll-Columbiana-Harrison Solid Waste Management District to earn much more money from recyclable material the agency collects, explained Mohammad Chowdhury, the multicounty agency's director.
About 1,200 tons of recyclables are gathered annually, largely through drop-off points for recyclables.
The details: The district hauls the recyclables to a private processing plant in Canton that pays it about $1,500 yearly for the materials.
If the district were to significantly increase its recycling drop-off points and build its own plant, it could earn about $120,000 annually by processing and selling the materials itself, Chowdhury said.
The district would seek grants to build the plant, but if none were available, it would borrow the money, Chowdhury said.
Plant earnings would help pay off the loan.
"It's not slave labor," Chowdhury said of using inmate workers. "They're in prison, and we're trying to use their time. We're making these people productive."
Chowdhury said he is uncertain how many prisoners would be needed at the plant. Their jobs probably would entail sorting materials.
Likely prisons: Likely sources of labor would be inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution in Elkton or Carroll County Jail prisoners, he said.
Carroll County would be considered, because the plant, probably would be constructed in that county in Carrollton, which is centrally located in the solid waste district.
No commitments for inmate labor have been made by the federal prison or Carroll County.
Chowdhury emphasized that the plant proposal is tentative and that passage of the solid waste plan doesn't mean the plant would be built. The decision would be up to the agency's board.
"It's worth exploring," Columbiana County Commissioner Sean Logan said. Logan also is solid waste district board chairman.
Process: The waste district plan that contains the processing plant proposal is in the approval process.
It requires passage by county commissioners in the district counties and approval of the largest cities in those counties and a majority of the municipalities and townships.
The approval process is proceeding smoothly, and the new plan could be in place by early 2002, Chowdhury said.
leigh@vindy.com