Poison in the prison water

Re “Drink up -- assuming you like arsenic, that is,” Dec. 29

Poisoning prisoners with drinking water laden with arsenic is unconscionable, inhumane and, considering the potential deferred health costs and civil liability, economic suicide for the state.

Worse perhaps is selective poisoning by gender. At the California Institution for Women in Chino, the state spends $480,000 a year for bottled water, while at the nearby California Institution for Men, inmates drink contaminated water.

Not only should all prisoners, and staff if applicable, be given non-poisonous water, but the attorney general should investigate the contract or contracts for the $480,000, which smell of poisonous cronyism.

Harry Crouch

San Diego

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How is it that we incarcerate criminals in an institution that itself breaks the law?

By providing inmates with water containing arsenic in excess of 10 parts per billion, the Kern Valley State Prison is violating federal and state law.

Furthermore, Dr. Sherry Lopez’s statement that this is a regulatory and not a health issue reflects either disregard for a serious health threat or extreme ignorance. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined that there is no safe level of arsenic in drinking water. The 10 ppb arsenic standard is a legal compromise because drinking water standards are based on cost and technical considerations, along with health effects.

Water systems that do not meet the standard are supposed to be held accountable under the law.

It would be an extreme injustice if the prison system continues to provide a dangerous water supply to the people in its charge.

Andria Ventura

San Francisco

The writer is a program manager at Clean Water Action.