Legislators seek update on conditions at prison

The recycling program ended in 2003.

STAFF REPORT

ELKTON — Three legislators have asked the U.S. Department of Justice for an update on conditions of the health and safety of the staff and inmates at the federal prison here.

U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson of St. Clairsville, D-6th, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said in a release Friday that they sent a letter to Glenn A. Fine, inspector general for the Justice Department.

A preliminary report issued by the inspector general in 2007 said that staff and inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution in Elkton, located in Elkrun Township in Columbiana County, were exposed to unsafe levels of cadmium and lead for a six-year period.

The exposure took place while workers and inmates changed air handling filters in the ventilation system at the inmate work factory known as UNICOR.

UNICOR had operated a recycling operation that breaks down computer parts that contain the two metals.

Levels of airborne lead dust at the facility had at times reached 50 times higher than the federally accepted level for workplaces, according to the letter.

The legislators wrote, “While we were relieved to learn that cleanup efforts are finally under way at the Elkton facility, we continue to have concerns regarding the health and safety of personnel and inmates.”

The recycling operation ran from 1997 until early 2003, but inmates and staff were without respiratory protection.

The letter asked what steps the federal Bureau of Prisons is taking to ensure that correctional officers and staff, and the prison inmate workers at Elkton exposed during this time are being medically monitored for early detection of illness as a result of this exposure, and whether the prison bureau was using the most complete medical testing available to monitor workers and staff.

“As you continue to move forward in your investigate of UNICOR and the electric recycling program at Elkton, we request that special attention be paid to this issue and addressed thoroughly in your investigation and final report,” the federal lawmakers wrote.