The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Now, her binder also has several pages dealing with lead poisoning, exposure to cadmium and other elements.

“I never even realized,” said Cobb, who lives with her husband Eugene in Marianna. “We never put it together.”

Cobb believes she and many others were exposed to dangerous levels of toxic material, resulting from their participation in a computer recycling operation adjacent to the prison.

Overall, 26 current and former inmates and prison employees are suing the U.S. Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Prisons and UNICOR — the government-owned company that runs the recycling business, claiming they did not do enough to protect workers from being exposed to harmful chemicals and elements. Three individuals in supervisory positions with UNICOR are also named.

UNICOR began a computer recycling operation — the first of its kind — near the Marianna prison in 1994. The operation used female inmates from the nearby female prison camp to remove truckloads of obsolete computers each day, break them down and retrieve parts that can be reused or resold, including central processing units and cathode ray tubes.

Cobb — who began working at the prison in 1991 — said it was common for inmates and workers to unload several semi-trailer loads of old computers per day. Often, inmates would need to break the computers and monitors with hammers to retrieve the salvageable parts, causing a thick dust to engulf the area.

“It looked just like pollen,” Cobb said. “At the end of the day, when we would go to our cars, we would sort of laugh because we could write letters on our hood and on the back.”

Cobb said, and the complaint alleges, that inmates and workers were not provided with masks, coveralls or any protective equipment other than steel-toed shoes.

She said some inmates and workers raised questions to supervisors.

“They told us not to worry about it,” she said. “Nobody wanted to hear us.”

Cobb worked at the nearby food service building and said female inmates would come from the recycling facility into the building and shake off their dust-laden clothes, causing dust to coat the floor and eating utensils. She would also be asked to pat down the inmates because male officers did not want to pat down the female inmates. Cobb said she was further exposed to the potentially-toxic materials when she worked overtime in the UNICOR warehouse where the recycling operation took place.

The complaint alleges others were possibly exposed when allowed to visit the recycling facility to purchase refurbished computers at a discount price.

“Defendants knew or should have known about the dangers associated with the recycling facilities. For example, it is common knowledge that CRT monitors are hazardous waste because of the amounts of lead and other toxic substances contained in them,” states the complaint, filed by Tallahassee, Fla., attorneys Richard Bisbee, Bill Reeves, and Patrick Frank.

“The continued safety of inmates and staff is our top priority and we are committed to insuring our continued compliance with all applicable health and safety regulations,” said Traci Billingsley, spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

One plaintiff, 36-year-old Tanya Smith, died Aug. 1 at her home in Cottondale, Fla. The complaint alleges others exposed to the dust have died as well.

“Based on information and belief, at least 12 persons who are know(n) to various plaintiffs have been exposed to the dust or powder resulting from the UNICOR recycling operation at Marianna and have suffered from symptoms consistent with exposure to heavy metals and other toxic substances found in computer monitors have died,” the complaint states.

Since the computer recycling operation started in Marianna in 1994, it has expanded to include seven facilities. Late last year, a report written by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and ordered by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General indicates staff and inmates were exposed to lead and cadmium beyond permissible levels at UNICOR’s computer recycling operation in Elkton, Ohio. Similar studies are being done at recycling facilities at prisons in Texas and California.

The Ohio facility is equipped with air filters. The report states that a surface wipe of the filter located in the glass breakage area of the warehouse tested positive for levels 450 times the permissible limit for cadmium and 50 times the permissible limit for lead.

Cobb said the Marianna facility did not have filters or any type of ventilation for several years.

The defendants have until next month to respond to the complaint.
http://www.dothaneagle.com/dea/news/local/article/former_prison_worker_claims_exposure_to_toxic_material/32883/