Prison in Mendota under investigation by EPA, officials confirm. What prompted the probe?

The federal prison in Mendota is being investigated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over improper storage of hazardous waste, EPA and Federal Bureau of Prisons officials confirmed to The Bee.

As part of the ongoing investigation, the EPA asked the correctional facility to sample the soil where broken universal waste lamps were observed during an unannounced December inspection. The soil could be contaminated with mercury.

Michael Brogan, press officer for the EPA’s Region 9, which covers Central California, confirmed to The Bee that two investigators were at the facility on Dec. 14 to carry out an inspection. The investigators included one federal EPA inspector and one state inspector from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Maria Arviza is the warden at the facility. An inquiry to the prison went unanswered, but the prison’s email was copied in the response by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Scott Taylor, with the office of public affairs at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said Federal Correctional Institution Mendota officials must provide soil sampling and analysis results to the EPA by Feb. 11.

All visitation at the prison is currently suspended, but Taylor said it’s not related to the investigation; it’s due to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s concern for COVID-19 in the surrounding area, and visits could resume as soon as this weekend.

A source who spoke with The Bee on condition of anonymity questioned why the EPA allowed facility workers to conduct the soil samples. The source used the analogy of an officer pulling someone over for being suspected of driving under the influence, and allowing the driver to conduct his own sobriety test.

“It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever,” the source told The Bee. The source has knowledge of management issues at the prison.

Tipster sparked investigation

The December inspection, EPA spokesman Brogan said, was prompted after an anonymous tip/complaint was made to the state and to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which then reported the tip to the EPA.

An area where universal waste lamps were being stored was on bare ground near a loading dock, Brogan said.

“Where the universal waste lamps were being stored is outside the main area where staff or employees work,” he said. “Also, only a few of the lamps were broken (i.e., no significant exposure is likely). However, soil could be contaminated with mercury.”

The source who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Bee the area in question is where inmates work from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. “They (the inmates) are literally sitting right next to the light bulbs,” the source said. The light bulbs are “packed with mercury.”

The source said the matter is a safety issue for inmates, staff and the San Joaquin kit fox, which is listed as an endangered species and lives in the area.

Taylor, the prisons bureau spokesman, said the area of concern identified by inspectors is located within a fenced, developed portion of the property. No kit foxes have been seen within that area, he said.

The inspection, Taylor said, identified used lamps being stored outside of the Recycling Center on the ground, and more in boxes at the Recycling Center.

“Used LED/fluorescent tube lamps stored at the Recycling Center are generated during routine operation and maintenance activities at FCI Mendota as new lamps are being installed,” Taylor told The Bee in an email. “The inspection identified universal waste storage boxes at the Recycling Center with accumulation start dates of April 2021, June 2021, and December 2021.”

Taylor said, “no inmates or staff have reported an illness related to this matter.” He said inspectors informed officials that the inspection was a result of the anonymous tip.

“Whistleblowers perform an important service for the public and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) when they report evidence of wrongdoing,” Taylor said. “All BOP employees, inmates, and contractors are protected from retaliation for making a protected disclosure under federal law.”

The source who asked to speak on condition of anonymity said the prison administration is “always trying to cover things up and don’t want to do the right thing.” Mismanagement, the source said, has been an issue at the facility for quite some time.

“They spend more time trying to cover something up than actually fixing it,” the source told The Bee.

Prior issues at Mendota prison

This is not the first time the Mendota facility has been scrutinized by federal officials.

In August 2019, the warden at the time insisted in a letter to then-Sen. Kamala Harris that he had fixed a notoriously faulty air conditioning system, but that he couldn’t address other challenges related to hiring more officers.

The letter was sent to now-Vice President Harris after a visit from congressional staff to the facility earlier that summer.

The prison had a faulty air conditioning system for three years. Union leaders at the time said that posed a health and safety risk for inmates and staff as the facility would regularly record triple-digit temperatures during July and August.

The prison at the time also was understaffed, with 81 vacancies out of its 305 authorized staff positions.