We have to give credit to that fiendish bean-counter, Jeffrey
Beard, boss of Pennsylvania's infamous Department of
Imprisonment. He's always finding new ways of exploiting and
profiting from the prisoners and their families.
His newest racket is asbestos removal. In the Camp Hill/Harrisburg area where our offices are located, asbestos removal is very expensive. After a number of costly and difficult procedures to obtain permits and inspections, it costs about $400 an hour to have asbestos removed. It's very dangerous and workers die from doing it.
That was an opportunity Beard couldn't pass-up! Why would he care about a few prisoners dying if he could rake in a juicy profit?
The fiend has a scheme to use prisoners to remove asbestos! Beard's draconian plot is to promise a few prisoners an "early" release from prison (before they can die or require costly medical treatment). He's also willing to pay them 75 cents an hour!
His scheme is partly laid out in his official notice. It's reproduced below. In brief, the suckers will be collected from the various state dungeons. Those dumb enough and docile enough will be trucked to Camp Hill (or Camp Hell if you prefer). Good-old lying-sack-of-shit says the suckers will be "trained" to remove asbestos. During that dangerous training period the prisoners will receive their standard 19¢ an hour.
If they don't die in "training," and they are docile and obedient, they may be put into an "Asbestos Abatement Crew." There they might earn as much as $1 an hour if they live long enough. You'll kindly notice that there's a big difference between paying prisoner slave-labor 75¢ an hour and paying a licensed professional $400 an hour. Who do you suppose will benefit from that difference in cost?
The whole scheme is illegal, of course. Asbestos removal
requires licenses and testing and real safeguards. It's federally
regulated.
Apparently the fiend's plan is to start the crews by trying to clean up the prisons. Pennsylvania prisons are very badly polluted with asbestos. It's everywhere in the older prisons! While the stuff is being removed, particles get into the air systems. That's sure to give a certain percentage of prisoners serious breathing problems, maybe kill a few. Michael Borshell, a prisoner at Graterford recently died from the breathing disease, mesothelioma, and many other prisoners suffer from lung diseases thanks to the prisons.
If some of the suckers survive Beard may decide to send them out into the community and into private industry to risk their lives at 75¢ - $1 an hour and save money for the business people while making a profit for Beard and Company.
If you read the attached official notice, you'll also see Doctor Beards newest scheme to keep prison conditions secret. He's scared to death that you'll know what he's doing to the prisoners, especially the torture and exploitation.
It says that inmates are also specifically prohibited from advertising for pen pals." You will note that the prohibition is against "advertising." The regulation doesn't forbid having correspondents. That's an important point.
Of course, prison administrations and guards have changed the rule to suit themselves. They read it to say that ALL correspondence is now forbidden. In some prisons, especially Huntingdon, Smithfield and, of course the infamous Camp Hill and Frackville. Remember that wording if/when you have to fight the prisons.
If you have asbestos in the attic and don't want to pay $400 an hour and you don't mind having unlicensed workers, I'm sure the Beard-boys will rent-out one of their suckers to do your work for half the price and make a nice profit for themselves on the side. But you may have to be some Republican legislator or politician.
