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Clean air, clean water and safe housing is a human right that should be afforded to everyone including the incarcerated. But, this isn’t the case. Many prisons are built on land<\/a> that was otherwise worthless due to its hazardous condition. This kind of land is popular in the prison industry because it can be purchased very cheaply. Many jails and prisons are in poor condition and not fit for human habitation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Prisoners are not only enduring these conditions but instead of rehabilitation and growth, they are continually treated as less than human. This toxic and dilapidated infrastructure combined with the inhumanity of prison culture creates a multi-layered harmful environment that is physically and mentally hazardous to prisoners’ well being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Using Geographic Information Study (GIS<\/a>) and superfund<\/a> site information from the Environmental Protection Agency, 589 prisons in the United States are built on or adjacent to toxic waste sites. Studies<\/a> show that cancer is higher in the incarcerated than in the general population. Movement Talks spoke with three directly impacted people to learn about their experiences and find out what they or others did to overcome these toxic conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n589 prisons in the United States are built on or adjacent to toxic waste sites<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Fighting infestations of mice, rats and decay<\/h2>\n\n\n\n