ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News got a firsthand look at the equipment failure that sent two workers to the hospital, and more than a dozen workers in for treatment at a local jail.
There were two different carbon monoxide leaks during the week at the Fulton County Jail.
Channel 2′s Tom Jones learned one piece of equipment that was supposed to suck out carbon monoxide didn’t work.
“This is a 40-year-old building,” jail spokesperson Natalie Ammons said.
She pointed out that the jail’s infrastructure is crumbling, and so is the equipment.
“Over 1,000 work orders have been done in the kitchen. But jail-wide, over 14,000 work orders that have been done,” Ammons told Jones.
She said that’s over a 3-year period.
Colonel Curtis Clark showed Jones the malfunctioning equipment that caused the latest issue. Twice this week the kitchen kettles have emitted dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.
The latest leak sent two workers to the hospital, and 20 others needed treatment.
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“This is a health concern,” Ammons stressed.
Detainees have had to eat sandwiches since the kitchen equipment isn’t working. A vent hood that was supposed to suck the carbon monoxide out of the kitchen isn’t working either, Clark said.
“It’s like one thing after another,” Ammons said.
This, and many other issues are why Sheriff Pat Labat wants a new facility built.
The Fulton County Commission recently voted down a nearly $2 billion new jail facility, opting for a $300 million renovation.
Fulton County Commission Chairman Rob Pitts is against a new jail.
“If a light bulb goes off at the jail, they’re going to say it’s because we need a new jail,” Pitts said about the carbon monoxide issue.
Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. said the county government has a duty to have a fully functioning safe lock-up.
“I think people deserve to be housed properly. I think it can be a violation of their constitutional rights,” Arrington said.
Ammons said the issues at the jail are real.
“In no way, shape, or form are we sending people to the hospital because we need a new jail,” Ammons said.
Ammons says they’ve done the math and the costs of repairing the jail will end up equaling the cost of building a new one.
Staff are now preparing hot meals at a nearby school and bringing them over to the jail.
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