Oh, yeah, they could use newer equipment that keeps the beryllium, lead, cadmium and barium from attacking their nervous system & organs, but that cost $$!
Safety manager turned whistle blower Leroy Smith is trying to force changes.
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=oid:81281 Smith's story begins in 2000, when he was appointed safety manager for the United States Penitentiary-Atwater, in Merced, Calif. Soon, he began noting shoddy protections for inmates and guards in the prison's computer-recycling program.
This computer enterprise is administered by a branch of the BOP called Federal Prison Industries. In turn, the program's business contracts are handled by a government-owned corporation called Unicor. Customers have included state and local agencies--including the University of Arizona--and huge corporations such as Dell Inc.
Under these outside contracts, Unicor uses about 1,000 hammer-wielding prisoners to dismantle used computers, a process which releases dangerous metals including beryllium, lead, cadmium and barium. Exposure to these toxins can cause nervous-system damage, and prostate or lung cancer. Nor are the amounts insubstantial; a single television or computer monitor contains up to four pounds of lead.
By contrast, modern recycling systems use automated crushers and sophisticated environmental controls. So long as prisons avoid investing in this equipment--and cling to their primitive processes--inmates and guards will likely continue facing unacceptable health risks.
See some parallels to anything in
The Handmaid's Tale? Send the undesirables to do work that is likely to assure they won't be around long.
Wonder if bush is picking Hu's brain for other uses for prison labor.
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