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West Virginia jail sued over response to water crisis

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – A lawsuit claims some West Virginia inmates were so desperate for water they tried to drink from toilets during a 2014 water crisis.

The suit was filed on behalf of inmates at South Central Regional Jail between Jan. 9-14, 2014, the Charleston Gazette-Mail (bit.ly/1R1hLsL) reported. That was at a time when area residents were told not to use water for anything but flushing toilets and fighting fires due to a chemical spill in a river.

The West Virginia Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit recently in federal court in Charleston. The suit contains many more allegations about how the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority handled the water crisis.

Lawrence Messina, spokesman for the state Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, has continuously defended allegations about how inmates were treated at South Central. Officers and other jail staff worked overtime during the water crisis, he has said.

On Friday, Messina reiterated that the Regional Jail’s central office received two complaints during the water crisis.

“I was in the thick of communication about the response to the state of emergency, and in my position, I would’ve been aware if folks were raising issues at South Central and that just wasn’t the case,” Messina said.

Jamie Lynn Crofts, legal director for the ACLU in Charleston, said numerous inmates told her they were scared to file grievances with the jail.

“Most of them felt it would be futile,” Crofts said. “They had been speaking to guards and other officials requesting more water and being told the entire time there was nothing they could do.”

Besides inmate interviews, the ACLU reviewed hundreds of pages of documents through the Freedom of Information Act as the basis of the allegations in the complaint, Crofts said.

In addition to the state Regional Jail Authority, the lawsuit also names as defendants, the state Division of Corrections, Craig Adkins, the former administrator of the regional jails, and David A. Farmer, executive director of the state Regional Jails.

Messina previously provided the Gazette-Mail with information about how water was distributed to inmates.

On Jan. 9, each inmate was given 8 ounces of water after dinner and before lockdown, he said. Inmates were given 32 ounces of water Jan. 10, and 24 ounces of other beverages. Inmates with prescriptions and those with special needs were given additional water.

Between Jan. 11 and 16, inmates, Messina said, were provided 48 ounces of water and 24 ounces of other beverages. Also beginning Jan. 11, inmates were provided with gallon jugs of warmed water for bathing and brushing teeth during the evening, Messina said.

According to the lawsuit, jail employees recommended providing inmates with additional water and all employees and officials knew inmates needed more water.

On Jan. 11, inmates in two different pods staged a sit-in, demanding water and showers, the complaint states. Several inmates were disciplined as a result, the lawsuit alleges.

Those who requested medical attention also were punished, Crofts said.

Eventually, the lawsuit said, jail employees turned off all water in some inmates’ cells, leaving them unable to flush their toilets.

“This caused prisoners to sleep in ‘humid filth’ with a widespread presence of flies in their cells,” the complaint said.

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