"We are human beings": Former Stillwater inmate reflects on water quality concerns
BAYPORT, Minn. — This week, the Minnesota Department of Health and a third-party lab will be testing the water at the Stillwater correctional facility. The move comes a week after inmates protested conditions by refusing to return to their cells.
"They said that they had to use things like their socks to filter the water, and if they washed their clothes at certain times their clothes turned brown," said Marvina Haynes, sister of inmate Marvin Haynes.
Despite concerns from inmates and their family members, the Minnesota Department of Corrections says there's been no reports of water-related illnesses among staff or inmates.
RELATED: More extensive water testing ordered at Stillwater prison following protests
Vava Kuaddafi served a life sentence that ended in 2014 at the Stillwater facility and believes otherwise. He showed WCCO a rash on his back that he believes is from decades of showering with the water at the Stillwater facility.
"Tell the truth about the matter. It just ain't just happened, it's been going on," Kuaddafi said.
Now, a week after inmates protested conditions, the DOC announced they would more extensively test the water this week.
"It's definitely a step in the right direction, but it shouldn't have took this much time to make this step," Haynes said.
The DOC says this new round of water testing will include water from the faucets inside the cells. There will also be a sediment analysis, which is something they have not done in the past.
DOC spokesperson Andy Skoogman said, "We recognize there are sediments in the well water which can at times affect clarity with a reddish-brown tint ... Although the water may be unclear, it has not been deemed unsafe through the routine third-party water testing."
"How can we even trust that they're gonna deliver us the right results when they have been reporting for years that these test results were clean and safe for these inmates?" Haynes said.
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Advocates are calling on the DOC to address the other issues that they say remain at the prison, many of which stem from short staffing.
Communities Against Police Brutality responded to the DOC's water testing announcement with this statement:
This is an admission that there are issues with the water in Stillwater Prison, that the water is brown as the inmates have stated and that the MN DOC should have taken action sooner. Supplying drinkable water and testing the water addresses one of the issues raised by the inmates. Other issues remain including frequent lockdowns due to staffing issues that deny inmates access to telephone calls and showers, lack of air conditioning during brutal heat waves, and now retaliatory discipline that has resulted in at least 30 inmates placed in administrative segregation (solitary confinement) and other discipline without adequate due process rights.
"We are human beings no matter what we did or didn't do," Kuaddafi said.
Bottled water is being given to inmates and staff as they wait for the water testing results. The DOC said they will use it to implement a long-term water filtration strategy with the help of a consultant.
