Federal judge: State must provide water without arsenic to Pack Unit inmates

Click the gallery to learn the most common crimes among the inmates, according to data analysed by Texas Tribune. More than 145,000 inmates are housed in Texas prisons. Click the gallery to learn the most common crimes among the inmates, according to data analysed by Texas Tribune. More than 145,000 inmates are housed in Texas prisons. Photo: Guiseppe Barranco Photo: Guiseppe Barranco Image 1 of / 30 Caption Close Federal judge: State must provide water without arsenic to Pack Unit inmates 1 / 30 Back to Gallery

A federal judge in Houston has ordered the Texas prison system to provide safe drinking water to inmates at the Pack Unit in Navasota, saying the unit's arsenic-laden well water "violates contemporary standards of decency."

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison said the Wallace Pack Unit, a low security facility in Grimes County that holds elderly and sick inmates, has 15 days to replace its water supply.

The emergency motion to replace the drinking water was filed by a group of inmates suing the state on the grounds that the lack of air conditioning during the hot summer months is a form of "cruel and unusual punishment."

The Pack Unit houses mostly elderly, ill and disabled inmates who may take medications that make them especially vulnerable to heat-related illness.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice plans to appeal the ruling, according to a spokesman.

State prison officials say they have known since 2006 that the Pack Unit's aquifer has elevated levels of arsenic. However, experts testified at an emergency injunction hearing before last month that the levels of arsenic in the well water weren't lethal or likely to cause harm. A prison engineer testified he expected a new filtration system to be in place in the next year or so.

The prison's water currently registers between two and four-and-a-half times the amount of arsenic permitted by the Environmental Protection Agency.