Lexington prison reports water outage
LEXINGTON — Oklahoma Corrections Department reported a water outage Saturday at the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center after several water pumps that supply the facility failed.
Three of six water pumps, which supply both the assessment center and the Joseph Harp Correctional Center, were reported to have failed.
The three active pumps were diverted to the Joseph Harp Correctional Center to maintain access to water, according to a news release.
Corrections officials said a contractor will pull the failed pumps and replace them and that they hope to be back to normal operations by late Saturday or early Sunday.
Bottled water was brought in for inmates to drink, and a tanker truck of water was brought to the facility for cooking and to use in toilets. The Lexington Assessment and Reception Center has capacity for 1,450 inmates and serves as an intake and long-term male facility.
Corrections Director Joe M. Allbaugh declared the situation an emergency, which allows the department to make emergency purchases.
“It is all-hands-on-deck as crews work diligently to repair the pumps. Everyone is doing everything in their capacity to ensure water is restored as quickly as possible,” Allbaugh said.
“Like we saw at Dick Conner Correctional earlier this summer, it is an unfortunate situation, but we ask for family and friends of inmates to remain patient and realize this is causing a hardship on staff and inmates alike.”
The Dick Conner Correctional Center was without water service for about a week from water line breaks in June and water had to be trucked in by the Oklahoma National Guard and Emergency Management Department for the nearly 1,300 inmates.