The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.43           November 30, 1998 
 
 
Letters  
In late August of this year I was removed, in transit, to the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Lewisburg penitentiary is a completely walled-in federal institution that was built in 1932. Unfortunately, as we now know thoroughly, during this time period a common insulating building material was asbestos. I shudder to think of how many construction workers ultimately would die as a result of asbestos exposure insulating heating pipes in the Lewisburg prison.

Given the present, ongoing asbestos manufacturing and product liability legal settlement, in which the courts and government have played such a prominent role, it would be difficult to believe that the government would not be perfectly aware of the health hazards of asbestos.

Despite this, Lewisburg federal penitentiary is virtually loaded with asbestos - years after a major government effort to remove asbestos from public buildings. The level of asbestos exposure that I personally witnessed at Lewisburg is, in my opinion, actually frightening.

In my opinion an immediate and massive effort is needed to determine the extent of asbestos exposure that is right now occurring at Lewisburg and, an equivalent effort, in my opinion, should be initiated to ascertain exactly how many inmates and staff have died or acquired illnesses from this exposure over the years. And there is no doubt in my mind that deaths and illnesses have occurred.

A prisoner

Petersburg, Virginia

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A prisoner

Elizabeth City, North Carolina

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of general interest to our readers. Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.

 
 
 
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