MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 28, 2024 MEDIA CONTACT
Wookie Kim, Legal Director, 808-522-5905
HONOLULU, HI – Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai‘i (“ACLU of Hawaiʻi”) sent a letter to the Hawai‘i Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (“DCR”) and CoreCivic, demanding an investigation into allegedly contaminated, unsafe drinking water provided to the nearly 1,000 Hawai‘i individuals incarcerated at Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona.
Over the past several months, the ACLU of Hawaiʻi has received and investigated reports from multiple individuals incarcerated at Saguaro that the facility’s drinking water has a foul taste and smell and is causing serious health problems, particularly for elderly individuals and those with preexisting medical conditions.
According to first-hand accounts shared with the ACLU of Hawaiʻi, the water at Saguaro has a “heavily chlorinated” taste and a “greasy, viscous” feel—one that leaves an “awful aftertaste” in the back of the throat. As for the water’s smell, the phrases used to describe it include “chlorine,” “chemicals,” “metallic rust,” “bug spray,” and “heavy metal.” Incarcerated individuals also reported that the standing water in the cells’ toilets make each cell “smell like chlorine.” Prisoners who drink and bathe in the water reported that it causes burning eyes, cracked and bleeding skin (or “alligator skin”), gastrointestinal issues, and other physiological distress. Prisoners also reported that the situation is so dire that they resort to melting ice cubes from the ice machine, which has a filter, to obtain clean water.
Compounding these issues, the letter states, Saguaro’s commissary sells prisoners bottled water at almost $15 per case, which is almost three times the price of what the same product would cost outside the prison. Incarcerated individuals reported being unable to afford enough water to meet their daily intake given that the prison pays 25 cents per hour of labor. The letter says Saguaro also refuses to make Brita pitchers and filters available, despite listing them as items on its “Allowable Personal Property List.”
The ACLU of Hawaiʻi letter also asserts that Saguaro staff knows its water is unsafe. The prison provides its staff—and only its staff—with bottled water in 5-gallon water dispensers located exclusively in the staff areas of the facility, including unit offices and the main office. CoreCivic management has also instructed staff about the existence and availability of water coolers throughout the staff areas of the facility.
Several Hawai‘i individuals currently incarcerated at Saguaro shared their reactions to the contaminated water problem and the issuance of the ACLU of Hawaiʻi demand letter. (These individuals commented anonymously for fear of retaliation by CoreCivic.) One individual incarcerated at Saguaro said: “I feel less than human when CoreCivic provides safe drinking water to their staff, but not to those of us incarcerated here.” A second individual incarcerated at Saguaro said: “I experience extreme anxiety and feel unsafe because I know the water will be harmful when I drink it. But I have to drink something, and I can’t afford to pay $15 for a case of water. I am relieved that the ACLU of Hawai‘i is taking action to give voice to incarcerated people from Hawaiʻi to hold
DCR and CoreCivic accountable.”
The ACLU of Hawaiʻi letter also states that “Hawaiʻi residents incarcerated at Saguaro may have legal claims” against DCR and CoreCivic under the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment, federal disability discrimination laws, and the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. ACLU of Hawaiʻi Legal Director, Wookie Kim, said: “That CoreCivic continues to
provide unsafe water to incarcerated individuals while giving its staff access to clean, bottled water is a clear example of deliberate indifference. This is not only morally unconscionable, but it also violates the constitutional rights of the people incarcerated at Saguaro.”
ACLU of Hawaiʻi Executive Director, Salmah Y. Rizvi, said: “The practice of sending people from Hawaiʻi thousands of miles away from their families to survive in for-profit prisons like Saguaro is harmful enough. And the provision of contaminated water further demonstrates the government’s blatant disregard for the health and safety of our most vulnerable community members, in contravention of the law. This must end.”
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