Women in New York prisons complain of contaminated water after Hurricane Ida
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/women-new-york-prisons-complain-contaminated-water-hurricane-ida-rcna2020
The six-hour drive from her home to the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility isnt an easy trip for 66-year-old Donna Robinson. But she knew she needed to make the journey immediately when her daughter, who is incarcerated there, began complaining about contaminated water.
Not only she, but several others there said the water was hard to drink, Robinson, a resident of Buffalo, New York, said of her daughter, Al-Shariyfa Robinson, 46. They said it has a muddy taste and a foul odor. They didnt have much bottled water in the commissary for them to buy. My daughter said her urine was so dark because she had been sipping on one bottle of water for a week. I literally was in tears.
Several women incarcerated at both Bedford Hills, the only womens maximum-security prison in the state, and Taconic Correctional Facility told NBC News that the water has been contaminated since Hurricane Ida struck the region on Sept. 1, with dozens of women falling ill and scrambling to access bottled water.
Both facilities are located in the small Bedford Hills hamlet, about 40 miles north of New York City. The remnants of Ida battered the Northeast with tornadoes and record rain and flooding beginning Sept. 1. Organizers behind the call to address the claims say that the water issues stem from the devastating storm. The women who spoke are divided on whether they believe the hurricane prompted the water problem, but they all agree that officials should be doing more to fix it.