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14 inmates
free due to toxic mold
Prisoners let
out all within two weeks of release dates
By
Barry Ginter,
bginter@olympia.gannett.com
City Editor, The Olympian,
Thurston
County’s Home
Page, www.theolympian.com
March 20, 2004
Thurston
County
officials have set free 14 prisoners earlier than their normal release dates
to alleviate jail crowding following the discovery of toxic mold earlier
this week.
The mold led to the
precautionary evacuation Thursday of the 48 prisoners housed in Post 6 at
the jail. Most were moved into another unit with low-risk inmates, and many
will be sleeping on mattresses on the floor. Another 12 were shipped under
contract to jails in
Yakima
and Benton County.
The 14 prisoners were
released within two weeks of their sentences being up, Corrections Chief
Karen Daniels said. A group that included judges, prosecutors, defense
attorneys and probation officers met Thursday afternoon to review cases and
determine who would be released, she said. Those released are nonviolent
offenders who are "not a threat to the community," she said.
Six of those released were
felons.
"I think sometimes the
charge shouldn't necessarily be the sole consideration in risk," Chief
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jon Tunheim said.
A misdemeanor charge
doesn't automatically mean someone is less dangerous than someone being held
on a felony, he said. "Usually, if you're in jail for a misdemeanor, it's
because of history."
All of the releases were
approved by judges in district and superior court.
"The main thing I think
people need to understand is we were overcrowded before yesterday," Daniels
said. "We simply don't have the beds available."
Daniels said there will be
continued adjustment to accommodate all the prisoners, which means watching
for inmates who are eligible for work release or electronic home monitoring,
or for others who can be sent to jails elsewhere.
The mold problem was
discovered about 10 days ago by workers fixing a leaky toilet in the
minimum-security housing unit in the jail's basement. The mold spread
because water seeped under steel paneling protecting the sheetrock walls.
Results from air samples
came back Wednesday and showed "significant" amounts of mold spores,
according to the Thurston County Health Department. Public Health Officer
Diana Yu said the mold posed no immediate health problem, but she
recommended removing inmates with respiratory illnesses or other health
problems. Once construction starts, it also could stir up mold spores, which
might increase the risk to inmates.
Mold can pose health risks,
especially for people with respiratory problems, because it produces
airborne toxins. More commonly, mold spores provoke allergies and skin
irritations.
Daniels said none of the
inmates or officers have reported any respiratory problems.
"There wasn't any imminent
health danger," she said.
Monday, county
commissioners will be asked to approve an emergency resolution that will
allow the normal bidding process for the work to be bypassed. That could
allow repairs to be completed weeks earlier than normal, said Central
Services Director Jim Wilcox.
That will likely save a lot
of money, he said, because housing the 12 prisoners in other jails costs
$720 a day.
Wilcox said it's too early
to know what it will cost and how long it will take to fix the problem. Four
to six weeks is his current guess, he said.
"Until we get in there and
know what we're dealing with, it's a guess and a hope," Wilcox said.
Jail officials hope to
persuade voters to approve an $88 million bond to help pay for construction
of a $102.7 million new jail and justice center, which is proposed for
construction in Tumwater. The bond, which goes before voters in May, would
increase property taxes about 51 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for 20
years, or $87 annually on a $170,000 home.
Chris Stegman, who belongs
to a group called Thurston Jail Alternatives, which opposes the bond, said
he doesn't think voters should see the mold as a reason to approve the new
jail. He thinks proper maintenance could have caught the problem earlier.
Stegman also said he thinks
the jail staff has tried to gather support for a new jail by not looking at
short-term options to cut jail crowding, such as moving work release
prisoners out of the jail and using the space for other prisoners.
Wilcox said they have a
routine maintenance program for systems in the building, but to detect the
mold would have required inspecting inside of walls.
Daniels said discovery of
the mold has nothing to do with gathering support for a new prison.
"When we find something,
we're obligated to jump on it right away," she said.
"I don't believe people
understand the ongoing problems we have with this facility," she said. "This
is one of many."
Those problems, she said,
include heating, plumbing, electricity and locks.
Wilcox said the building
was not intended for its current use.
"These facilities really
weren't intended to last this long and work this hard," he said. "I would
describe it as functionally obsolete. Even if it was fixed up, it would be
the wrong facility in great shape."
This is the second mold
problem faced by the jail in less than a year. In October, crews finished
replacing walls in the jail annex where moisture from leaky windows caused
an infestation. The problem did not require inmate relocations.
Mold Advice & Help
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Mold.
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