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| Inmates Say County Bans Showers at N.J Prison |
| By The Trentonian |
| Published: 03/18/2003 |
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Female inmates at the Mercer County Corrections Center recently said toilets and sinks are malfunctioning and prisoners are not being allowed to shower in their wing of the lockup. The complaint came the day after a lawsuit was filed claiming the workhouse is violating water use laws and sending too much pollution into the Delaware River watershed. An inmate called The Trentonian on February 25 and said there was just an announcement made about water conservation. She said prisoners were told this weekend via the public address system that the Corrections Center was 'under water restrictions.' 'This is not the first time,' said the prisoner, who has been locked up in Hopewell three times. 'The shower room has been a mess every time I've been in here. There's always mold and scum and there's never any soap.' Donna Hurley, who has a sister in lockup at the workhouse, said she's been told horrific reports of what goes on inside the facility. Hurley said her sister has been in Hopewell for a little over a week and has seen many safety violations in addition to hygiene issues. 'On [February 23] all of the toilets were inoperable,' Hurley explained. 'There are about 25 women in the holding area, they asked for help and the officers ignored their cries for assistance. It finally backed up so much it came through the central drain where they sleep, feces and urine bubbled up through the drain.' A water main burst and flooded the building last week, Hurley said. And hot water is always hard to come by, whether its for showering or not. She said her sister told her the hot water is only turned on for specific times during each day. 'It certainly should accommodate basic human needs,' Hurley said of the workhouse. County officials denied any correlation between the lawsuit and the water problems. 'There is no connection,' said Tom Rubino, aide to county executive Bob Prunetti. 'The water issue is something totally different in relation to the shower claim,' added Rubino who admitted there was a shower problem this weekend. He said the showers were cut off February 22 because of rain overflow into the local sewage treatment plant from the recent storms. The inmates showered yesterday, he said. Rubino was quick to deny any connection between Saturday's water problems and the pending lawsuit, which he dismissed as ungrounded. Filed by Delaware Riverkeepers the suit charges the county could be liable for as much as $20 million in fines for exceeding water usage limits and allowing pollutants -- lead, ammonia and fecal matter -- to be released into the Delaware watershed. 'We're within our permitted use of water out there and we think the lawsuit has no merit,' Rubino said. Rubino said the county is well within its water use and applied for permits to increase its legal amounts last year. He added the county is in compliance with the Department of Environmental Protection too. Maya van Rossum of the Riverkeepers yesterday said the county has a responsibility both to give its prisoners proper care and comply with DEP standards. 'The fact of the matter is they're taking more water than they're allowed to, they're discharging more pollution than they're allowed to and they're violating the law,' van Rossum said. |
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