Proper safeguards missing in prison recycling program, agency says
By CASEY BARTO (Special to The Review)ELKTON - Electronics recycling operations at the Federal Correction Institution in Elkton were performed without proper respiratory protection, medical surveillance or industrial hygiene monitoring, causing staff and inmates at the prison to be exposed to cadmium and lead levels above the permissible levels, according to an interim letter issued by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
Staff at Elkton contacted the Office of the Inspector General in November after concerns were expressed that some of them may have been exposed to high levels of cadmium and lead while working at the UNICOR factory where electronics recycling was taking place.
About 250 staff members work at the prison, and 50 staff members work in the UNICOR facility.
According to the interim letter, the recycling of electronics and glass-breaking operations occurred between 1997 and 2003 in the main factory, a Federal Satellite Low (FSL) and the warehouse. During the glass breaking operations, inmates would break cathode ray tubes using hammers. The tubes contain high levels of lead and cadmium in addition to other dangerous heavy metals.
"Based upon our review of documents and interviews with staff and inmates conducted by the Department of Justice and by us, it appears that there was no respiratory protection used or any type of engineering control in place to minimize exposures during the glass breaking operations until about 2001," the letter reads.
A glass-breaking room was constructed in the factory in April 2003.
"The current (glass-breaking operation) is a significant improvement, but can be further enhanced to limit exposure to those performing glass breaking as well as limiting the migration of lead and cadmium from the room into other areas," the letter reads.
Additionally, staff expressed concern that they may have been exposed to high levels of lead fume during a computer chip recovery program at FSL from October 2005 to October 2006.
For prison staff, the letter verifies their concerns about being exposed to the toxins, said Bill Meek, vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Council of Prison Locals 33, Local 607.
"UNICOR made millions of dollars recycling these computer parts at the expense of exposing our staff to chemicals which could lead to serious health problems decades down the road," Meek said.
In 2007, UNICOR made $45.8 million, according to UNICOR's 2007 annual report.
A local exhaust ventilation system has been installed in the glass-breaking room. The ventilation system was adapted from a spray-painting operation. According to the letter, glass-breaking work stations have fans and hoods behind and below the work area. The fans and hoods are not ducted and discharge into the work area near the face of the ventilation system.
Meek previously stated that staff exposure to lead and cadmium came from staff changing the air-handling filters at the facility.
"They went from having nothing in place to putting in an unfiltered exhaust system that blew contaminants out of the roof only to be reabsorbed (through) the institution's air-handling systems back into the factory and adjacent buildings. Who knows how many staff have been exposed to this stuff," Meek said.
The letter states that routine housekeeping is done in the facility, and an extensive cleaning is done weekly in the glassbreaking area.
"During that operation, no production takes place, and all workers in this area remove settled dust by vacuuming and wet mopping," the letter reads. "All surfaces, including walls, equipment and floors are cleaned. The blanket prefilter on the ventilation system is vacuumed using the HEPA vacuum cleaner."
In addition, the filters were removed and cleaned by vacuuming, shaking or banging them on a hard surface to remove the dust.
"This took most of the work shift and reportedly created a thick cloud of dust within the enclosed glass-breaking room. This process was changed after a NIOSH evaluation and is reported to now be a wet process where the filters are wetted, removed and bagged for disposal and new filters used as replacements," the letter reads.
According to the letter, staff enter the room to put away tools and search the area when there is no glass breaking going on.
"Otherwise, they observe the inmates in the glass-breaking room through the window or vinyl curtains," the letter reads.
NIOSH and representative from of Federal Occupational Health (FOH) conducted a site visit in February and spoke with AFGE representatives, UNICOR recycling staff, health service administrators and a regional medical director. Representatives also spoke with inmates and UNICOR staff. Some staff members expressed concern about their health.
Representatives were told that the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) had an industrial hygienist on staff for many years, and that another industrial hygienist was recently hired by UNICOR. However, neither of the hygienists was present during the February visit, "and it is unclear what, if any role, they may have had in setting up or monitoring the electronic recycling program."
Representatives conducted air samples and wipe samples from undisturbed dusty surfaces, inmate cubicles and personal vehicles used by UNICOR staff.
A final report will be issued at a later date.
"The operation should never have started without a standard health hazard evaluation taking place," said Meek. "We are anxiously awaiting the final report . We also need to ensure that our staff receive appropriate remedy and continue to seek legal advice to insure that happens. The people responsible for this need to be held accountable and we will continue to work with our congressional representatives to make sure they are."
Similarly, glass breaking and recycling operations identical to the ones that were being performed at Elkton are performed at several other federal prisons. Staff at the other facilities have also lodged complaints about their working conditions.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons did not respond to a request for comment made late during business hours Thursday.
