The State - News from Jan. 4, 1988

Three maintenance shops at Folsom Prison have been closed after a complaint by a union that workers’ health is threatened by asbestos. “Folsom is the worst we’ve found to date,” said Steve Baker, a field representative for the Alliance of Trades and Maintenance, which represents about 70 electricians, plumbers, equipment operators and maintenance workers at the prison. The union has asked Folsom Prison Warden Bob Borg to start an asbestos training program for its members who change pipes and repair equipment that may contain asbestos. Chief Deputy Warden Bob Briggs said a state survey found that asbestos is pervasive throughout the original buildings of California’s second-oldest prison. He said the prison will begin in February to clean up asbestos in about 30 buildings at an estimated cost of $1 million.