Kay said Frakes agreed to put the reverse-osmosis unit in the nursery, and it was installed earlier this year, but not in the living quarters. Frakes said in his letter that adverse health effects have not occurred and the water at the prison was safe for consumption or showering.

But Kay said the prison had received 67 complaints to the medical unit about rashes or other problems inmates believed were related to water quality. As of Aug. 18, there were 285 women housed at the prison.

The corrections department has until April to submit an action plan, a spokesman from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality said. The department has agreed to begin a study of where the excess copper is originating and contracted in May with an environmental testing and consulting firm.

State Ombudsman Marshall Lux said the water situation at the York prison continues to be a concern to his office.

The women have been told they can turn on the tap and let it run for 20 seconds and the contaminants will clear.

"I don't find that (answer) terribly satisfying," Lux said. "It's not an ideal situation."

If it were a small Nebraska town with the same issues, people in the town would expect the mayor to fix it, he said.

"And they'd be right," he said. "It's not getting the kind of priority treatment that I would have given it. ... It seems to me that we don't want our Department of Health and Human Services telling us that there's issues with the water and not aggressively dealing with it."

Reach the writer at 402-473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSLegislature.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 2 Sad 0 Angry 5

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.