We don’t monitor the men’s prisons, but it seems Thornell has abandoned Perryville. The ladies get word that the Director is coming to an event, and then he doesn’t show up. He’s leaving Perryville rudderless and without effective leaders. Warden Stickley left her position abruptly after a very short tenure. Wardens of Perryville seem to be gone by the time their picture is put up in the lobby.

Why is that Ryan? Can’t you pick a Warden that will lead this complex for years instead of minutes? Your biggest administrative duty is to find honest and dedicated staff for the residents…..their lives depend on it. Graft and corruption at the ladies’ prison goes unabated, and you just sit there at Central Office….and…and…do what? What DO you fill your job time with?

Everything is BROKEN here Ryan. Broken. Fix it!

Hydro Sulfuric gas is the name of the gas that emanates from sewage systems. It causes nausea, vomiting, headaches, malaise, cough, and in high enough concentrations…. coma and death.

Bays A and B have been having this problem reportedly, in the last several years. Accounts vary as to when the problem started, but most residents testify that in the last year, the smell of sewage permeating the bays has been the worst. B bay bears the brunt of the fumes.

According to emails and grievances that we were shown, the women claim staff treat this as a mere inconvenience, and when they pressed Lt. Adamu for an answer, he merely said, “Pour water down the drain hole.” And this solves the health threat how??!! The women report that when the smell is unbearable, they fill trash cans with water, and pour the water on each drain in the bathrooms and showers. That mitigates the odor somewhat but is only a bandaid on a gaping wound.

We spoke with some professional plumbers who say if the pipes around Carlos are old, (they are) then it’s possible that a pipe is broken and that is causing the backup of fumes into the bay. Also, they surmise, that the land could have shifted and that caused a problem with the pipes. Either way, they recommended putting a camera on a “snake” and finding out where the problem is.

We also interviewed ladies who work on maintenance and special projects, and they said that scheduled maintenance on plumbing and P-traps are sporadic and not regular. These women describe donning respirators (the smell is horrific) to scrape and clean the outside plumbing and traps and put in an enzyme treatment. It’s supposed to be done once a month, but one gal said it’s been 5 months since she has done that treatment.

In one grievance response written by the Captain, he says, “The porters have been directed to flush the lines out daily.”. We couldn’t find any inmate porters that ever heard of such a thing. Since when is a bathroom porter in charge of plumbing?

What we are concerned about is health, as we’ve received many complaints about headaches and nausea from residents of B bay. Several women report they went to Medical about these symptoms.

We submit to our readers that Carlos administration is only concerned with the possible cost of a major plumbing rehab operation, and the suffering of the residents don’t matter to them one iota.