LANSING — Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington has promised to make public an environmental assessment of Michigan’s prison for women, which was recently conducted by a state contractor in response to mold concerns, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell said June 8.
Dingell said Washington made the promise during a June 8 conference call with lawmakers and that after asking follow-up questions, Dingell believes the report will be made public this week.
However, Jenni Riehle, a spokeswoman for the MDOC, told the Detroit Free Press later on June 8 that the department has only asked the contractor for a summary of the prison environmental report and plans to release a summary, not the report itself.
“Quote me as saying they told legislators they would be releasing the report,” Dingell said when told about the MDOC promising only a summary.
The reported promise from Washington was made after Dingell wrote Gov. Gretchen Whitmer June 8 urging her to take “urgent action” following three recent sudden deaths at the state’s only prison for women, including releasing any studies or environmental assessments into persistent reports of toxic mold at the prison near Ypsilanti.
“No one should be subjected to conditions that threaten their health and well-being,” Dingell said in the June 8 letter to Whitmer, which was released to the Detroit Free Press.
“Several (women) have come forward with their experiences of having to clean toxic mold without proper safety equipment and describe a disturbing lack of medical care.”
The Michigan Department of Corrections has repeatedly denied that toxic mold is a problem at the prison, and in a May 18 media statement said it “recently worked with a third-party contractor to complete … proactive and comprehensive environmental testing” at the prison, with findings “consistent with expected results typically found in large settings where individuals live and work.”
On May 19, the Free Press requested from the department, under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act, the release of all reports of all environmental testing at Women’s Huron Valley that the department had contracted for since June of last year.
On May 22, the MDOC denied the request, saying the records are “for use in ongoing litigation” and are exempt from disclosure under FOIA due to “attorney-client privilege.”
Health hazards from mold are the subject of an ongoing federal lawsuit brought by inmates and former inmates at the women’s prison.
The Free Press appealed that denial on June 3 to MDOC Director Heidi Washington.
Free Press General Counsel Herschel Fink said in the letter to Washington that the department’s response was “totally inadequate to support the Department’s denial.” He wrote that when a public body withholds documents, “it cannot simply cite the statutory language of the exemption as the DOC did here.”
To assert attorney-client privilege, “Michigan courts require agencies to provide detailed justification to enable judicial review,” Fink’s letter said. “It must identify the documents and establish factually how each record, or portion of a record, meets the elements of the privilege. Where an agency fails to provide sufficient information to determine if the privilege applies, courts consistently find that the agency has not met its statutory burden.”
Under state law, Washington has 10 days to respond to the appeal.
Dingell, who made her request for environmental reports independently of the Free Press request, said in her letter to Whitmer that the state has a moral and legal responsibility to ensure prisons are safe and humane.
“Transparency and accountability are essential to maintaining public trust in this facility, but unfortunately the state’s failure to make testing results publicly available and its continued lack of response to residents’ legitimate concerns have only eroded confidence in the facility’s safety,” Dingell wrote.
If the Attorney General’s Office is blocking the release of such studies, Whitmer should work with the AG to change that, Dingell said.
Stacey LaRouche, a Whitmer spokeswoman, directed the Free Press to the MDOC when asked for the governor’s response to Dingell’s letter. A short time later, LaRouche reiterated that Whitmer has directed MDOC “to conduct a swift, thorough, and transparent investigation” into the recent deaths.
“Families deserve to have the answers they need during the grieving process,” LaRouche said.
In the letter to Whitmer, Dingell also called for information about: How many grievances had been filed at WHV in the last five years related to mold, environmental hazards, medical care, or living conditions; how frequently the prison is tested for environmental hazards and who does the testing; what remediation efforts have been taken in the past year and how the state has verified their effectiveness; what the process is to address safety concerns; and detailed information about providing medical care.
Dingell asked for responses by June 19.
Ashley Hoath, 36, died at an area hospital June 6 after being rushed there from the prison hours earlier.
Investigations into the two earlier deaths continue, MDOC, Riehle told the Free Press June 5.
Rebecca Fackler, 57, died May 17.
Fackler’s death came just four days after the death of 28-year-old inmate Khaira Howard, and as the prison was under intense scrutiny over living conditions at the facility, which has a history of overcrowding, illicit drugs, leaking roofs, violence, and complaints about poor ventilation and toxic mold.
This story has been updated to add new information.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dingell says MDOC promised to release prison mold report, then backtracked
Reporting by Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
