A high cancer rate among prisoners at the State Correctional Institution Fayette in southwestern Pennsylvania has been linked to a nearby coal ash dump, according to a report. The report, released by the Abolitionist Law Center and the Human Rights Coalition, also advised that the correctional facility should be closed down, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
From 2010 through 2013, eleven prisoners died of cancer, and six others were diagnosed with cancer at SCI Fayette. Only two other Pennsylvania prisons have a higher inmate death rate than SCI Fayette; both of those prisons have high geriatric populations. The investigation found that the "coal ash was the most likely cause of the inmate cancers as well as other illnesses at the facility.
Coal ash, a residue of burning coal in power plants, was used extensively in Pennsylvania during the 1960s and '70s. Its carcinogenic components include lead, arsenic and mercury.
The Abolitionist Law Center is a public interest law firm based in Pittsburg while the Human Rights Coalition is a national prison reform group.
To read the entire Orlando Sentinel article, click here.
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