Some SCI-Fayette medical info released by DOC
Medical information about inmates at SCI-Fayette was released Wednesday to the Herald-Standard three months after the initial Open Records request to the Department of Corrections.
Simultaneously, the DOC put out a news release refuting a report that coal ash near the prison was causing medical problems at the facility.
“After a comprehensive review following complaints of dangerous environmental conditions at the State Correctional Institution (SCI) at Fayette, the Department of Corrections has found no credible evidence of any unsafe environmental conditions at the facility or of any abnormalities with regard to the safety and health of inmates at the prison,” the news release stated.
Records were released regarding cancer deaths, pulmonary conditions and gastrointestinal problems from 2010 through 2014. However, the Herald-Standard’s request was for records on all medical conditions contracted by inmates while incarcerated at SCI-Fayette since its opening in 2003 and how the rates compared to other state prison facilities. An affidavit of non-existence for those records was not attached to the information provided through the Open Records request.
Chase Defelice, an attorney for the DOC, said the information provided is from the report compiled by the department following the release of a paper by the Abolitionist Law Center and the Human Rights Coalition.
The 21-page paper, “No Escape: Exposure to Toxic Coal Waste at State Correctional Institution Fayette,” was released in early September. The report notes that the Luzerne Township prison is surrounded by “about 40 million tons of waste, two coal slurry ponds and a million cubic yards of coal combustion waste,” calling that site a “massive toxic waste site.”
The report is referring to Matt Canestrale Contracting, which has taken coal fly ash from area coal-fired power plants, listed by the state Department of Environmental Protection as a permitted coal disposal site.
Defelice said that since the activists paper dealt with the five year period, that was the same length of time the DOC examined in its report and released to the Herald-Standard through an Open Records request. Defelice said he would check to see if the information was available for the previous years that had been requested. Under the Open Records legislation, agencies are not required to generate reports that do not already exist, Defelice said.
“The reports that you have didn’t exist until the article (No Escape) and we looked into the allegations. If you had made your request in August, there wouldn’t have been anything there,” Defelice said. “We did turn everything we had over to the (state) Department of Health. Fayette was not at the top of the charts. It was in the middle for most of them.”
Information for the DOC study came from Diamond Pharmacy Services, which provides pharmaceutical services to the state prison system, Defelice said.
During the five-year study period, the DOC shows that 16 inmates died of natural causes at SCI-Fayette. Ten of the deaths were from cancer, a rate of 62.5 percent of all natural deaths at the prison. Of all the natural deaths at the state’s 28 correctional facilities, 37.4 percent were from cancer.
“The department reviewed rates of cancer at SCI-Fayette and found no irregular results. The Department’s Bureau of Health Care Services maintains an extensive database of all current cancer patients in state prison facilities. SCI Fayette has a cancer rate of 11 cancer patients per 1,000 inmates. Compared to the other state prison institutions, SCI Fayette’s rate falls exactly in the middle,” the DOC stated in the news release.
Defelice noted that inmates with cancer are sometimes transferred to other facilities to be closer to the required medical treatment.
No information was provided on the number of inmates being treated for cancer or who were diagnosed with cancer at SCI-Fayette after being incarcerated as the Herald-Standard had requested. Defelice said he would look into whether that information was available and provide it.
Two former guards at SCI-Fayette have been diagnosed with kidney cancer, as have several residents of the nearby community of LaBelle. Concerns have been raised that the kidney cancer may be related to high levels of trihalomethanes reported by the Tri-County Water Authority and the state Department of Environmental Protection in the drinking water over at least the past seven years..
“Initial complaints contained conclusory allegations that coal waste in the vicinity of SCI-Fayette had contaminated the environment. In response, the Department commissioned independent tests of its water supply to be performed in August 2014.
Analysts concluded that the water met all drinking water standards and guidelines; there was no determination of any chemical concentrations that would cause adverse health conditions,” the news release stated.
Defelice said he did not see trihalomethanes listed among the chemicals for which levels were listed.
The Herald-Standard is awaiting the detailed report from that water testing.
The number of inmates at SCI-Fayette suffering from pulmonary problems has dropped from 153.1 per 1,000 in 2010 to 148.4 in 1,000 in 2014, spiking to a high of 181.8 per 1,000 in 2012.
According to the Material Safety Data Sheet on coal ash from Duke Energy, “Individuals with pre-existing conditions of emphysema or asthma may experience respiratory irritation from breathing dust. Skin conditions or dermatitis may be aggravated by contact with this material.”
No information regarding skin conditions was included in the Department of Corrections information released Wednesday.
The Department of Corrections report did look at gastrointestinal cases at the prisons, noting that nearly 29 percent of inmates in the state system in 2014 were being treated for gastrointestinal problems.
The highest rate was at the Waymart Forensic Treatment Facility, which houses psychiatric inmates. For every 1,000 patients treated at Waymart, 910 were treated for gastrointestinal issues. SCI-Fayette had a rate of 231.3 cases per 1,000 in 2014, down from 308 in 1,000 in 2013.
“In conclusion, by all of the measures reviewed, the Department has found no scientific data to support claims of any unsafe environmental conditions or any related medical issues to exist at SCI Fayette.
Although the Department is satisfied with its internal review, it has also submitted the matter to the Pennsylvania Department of Health for additional review,” the release concluded.
The Herald-Standard is continuing its investigation into the medical conditions at SCI-Fayette.