Kitchen staff at the Fulton County Jail were forced to suspend operations for a second straight day due to a gas leak and elevated carbon monoxide levels.
According to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, a carbon monoxide monitor detected the leak Monday night when a contractor began showing symptoms including nausea. As of Wednesday afternoon, 15 kitchen employees had been evaluated for medical issues and two were taken to the hospital.
While the leak does not appear to have affected other areas of the prison, at least two of the eight pots in the kitchen were found to be leaking. The kitchen cooks approximately 8,000 to 11,000 meals each day, depending on the number of inmates. There are reportedly currently around 1,620 inmates housed at the Rice Street prison.
The source of a gas leak at the Fulton County Jail on Rice Street has been traced to at least two of the eight kettles in the kitchen. The leak was discovered on Monday, July 15. (Courtesy of the Fulton County Sheriff's Office)
According to the sheriff's office, Atlanta Fire and Rescue also discovered a natural gas leak in the line supplying the stove and a faulty regulator on the gas line leading to the building.
The gas has been shut off, carbon monoxide levels are down, and Atlanta Gas Light is on scene to determine if the regulator can be repaired or if it needs to be replaced.
It's unclear when the kitchen will reopen. In the meantime, staff are providing cold meals to inmates and a food vendor is providing food to staff.
Fulton County Sheriff Patrick “Pat” Labatt walks down a hallway during a tour of the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday, July 12. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labatt said 1,000 work orders have been issued in the past three years just for kitchen issues, and the air conditioning has been malfunctioning since April.
“We are responsible for feeding thousands of residents every day, so not being able to keep the kitchens operating around the clock is problematic,” Labatt said Wednesday. “Until alternative facilities are secured, issues with the kitchens and other parts of the building will continue to impair our ability to properly feed our residents and overall maintain the safety of our residents and staff.”
The sheriff has been pushing for a new jail since taking office in 2021.
The leak comes less than a week after the County Commission voted 4-3 to renovate the existing facility rather than completely replace it.
Fulton County Commission Vice Chair Khadija Abdul Rahman, who voted in favor of the new request for proposals, said she initially supported the new jail proposal but backed down after hearing from residents who opposed it.
“The reality that we quickly learned is that there is no public support for building a new prison,” Abdul Rahman said. “There is support for alternatives. There have been several deaths in that prison, so we have public support to do something.”
Ten people have died in custody at Fulton County Jail in 2023, including three so far this year, and the facility is the subject of a federal investigation into overcrowding and unsafe conditions.
