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HUNLOCK TWP. — Local legislators on Monday told employees at the State Correctional Institution at Retreat and their family members they think closing the facility is a bad idea.
The potential closure looms over the prison after an announcement by the State Department of Corrections on Friday that two state prisons would be closed to save money and streamline the prison system. SCI Retreat was on the list of five prisons from which the two closures would be chosen.
In addition to SCI Retreat in Luzerne County, SCI Frackville in Schuylkill County and SCI Waymart in Wayne County are on the short list for possible closure, along with SCI Pittsburgh in Allegheny County and SCI Mercer in Mercer County.
State Sen. John Yudichak, at an informal meeting at the Hunlock Creek Volunteer Fire Company on Monday night, told over 100 corrections officers that the announcement on Friday was a “bombshell that came out of the blue.”
Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, said not only would closing the prison mean that more than 400 employees would be forced to transfer to another facility, it would also mean that Newport Township would lose a significant part of its population, moving it from a first class township to a second class township.
“For every one of the 400 that lose a job, there are five, 10 members of his or her family that would also be affected,” said State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre.
Pashinski said that although he was upset by the announcement, attendance at and participation in the meeting made him “see the glass as half full,” believing that the voices of the legislators, union leaders and corrections officers would be heard in Harrisburg.
According to the DOC, those specific closures are to be announced later this month.
Rep. Gerald Mullery doesn’t understand the rush.
“If this decision is tied to the state budget, the budget year closes on June 30,” he said. “Let’s give this some time.”
Mullery said final exit information from the closing of two state prisons in 2013 have yet to be released.
Provision of information, he said, is necessary to make a decision that will best benefit residents.
Yudichak agreed.
“This issue hasn’t been thoroughly vetted,” said Yudichak. “I want to see public hearings.”
Figures released by the Department of Corrections indicate that the closure of SCI Retreat would save that state $45 million.
According to Yudichak, the closures of any of the other five prisons would result in greater savings to the commonwealth.
“With the cost of the decommissioning of the facility at about $2 million, it would be the highest of the five,” he said.
James Chernavage, grievance coordinator for the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association, fielded questions from members of the audience that ranged from the benefits of seniority to the timing of the closure should it happen.
Mark Truskowski, also of the state CO association, said that although the union encouraged corrections officers to be prepared for anything, the first goal of the association was to keep the prison open, to keep corrections officers at the prison, doing their jobs as well as providing for their families.
Yudichak stressed that beyond the fiscal implications of the possible closure, there were safety concerns related to possible overcrowding.
“The governor said he’s about schools and not prisons, but there is a spike in heroin use, in illegal use of prescription drugs,” he said. “The need for prisons is a reality. We have to deal with crime.”
