FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 18, 2020
Media contact: Ana Maria Rosato [email protected]
ATLANTA – The ACLU of Georgia demands a full investigation into the allegation that the water at the Cobb County Detention Center is contaminated. According to reports the ACLU of Georgia has received, the detention center maintenance crew used gasoline to clean one or more water filters. As a result, individuals in at least one pod were without clean water for drinking or showers over a couple of days.
Allegedly, only after family members repeatedly called the detention center and 9-1-1, did the Sheriff Department move the impacted individuals to a different part of the jail.
“In addition to a full investigation into the water contamination at the Cobb County Detention Center, we demand the Sheriff’s Office conduct appropriate comprehensive medical exams of each person who may have been affected to determine what health impact may have occurred from consuming the toxins in the water,” said Christopher Bruce, political director of the ACLU of Georgia. “Everyone in this community should be alarmed over the inhumane and unacceptable conditions at the jail.”
In December, the ACLU of Georgia and other community organizations hosted a standing-room-only town hall in Cobb County regarding the lockdown and seven deaths at the detention center. Click here to watch the Facebook Live of the event.
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